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THE 


HARP ON THE WILLOWS, 

REMEMBERING ZION, 

FAREWELL TO EGYPT, 

THE CHURCH IN THE HOUSE, 

THE DEW OF HERMON, 

AND 

DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

BY THE 

REV. JAMES HAMILTON, 


FROM THE FORTY-FIFTH LONDON EDITION. 


NEW YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET, 

PITTSBURG .—THOMAS CARTER. 


1844. 






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HARP ON THE WILLOWS. 


Two months ago I went to Edinburgh to 
attend the Convocation of Ministers. Like ma¬ 
ny of my countrymen, my heart used to beat 
harder when I came in sight of that city of re¬ 
formers and covenanters, of hallowed Sabbaths, 
and crowded churches, and solemn assemblies. 
Its towers and steeples used to say, Mount Zion 
stands most beautiful. But on this occasion 
“how did the city sit solitary !” Its pleasant 
sanctuaries had a look of widowhood ; and the 
most melancholy object of all was, a gorgeous 
unfinished structure cfn the Castle hill, reared 
for the Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, 
but more likely to be their cenotaph. Ministers 
preached, and congregations worshipped, as 
under warning to quit: and there was much 
of a farewell solemnity in every service. In 
private it was the same; and, amidst many 
1 joyful Meetings and much longed-for inter¬ 
course, there was a prevailing tendency to sad- 



4 


THE HARP 


ness. There was a mournful and foreboding 
feeling, like that which reigned in Jerusalem 
after the voice had cried in the temple, “ Arise, 
depart!” and just before the abomination of des¬ 
olation took his stand in the holy place. There 
was a conviction deeper than ever that the 
cause of the Church was the cause of God, and 
therefore not soon likely to become the cause of 
man. However, a few “ hoped against hope 
and the last evening I spent in Edinburgh, and 
being rather a cheering word, I remember it the 
better, in the course of conversation about the 
Church’s prospects, an accomplished barrister 
said in my hearing, “1 have great hope from the 
honesty of Englishmen. The English are a 
just people, and, if they understood our case, 
would do us justice.” 

Now, dear friends, to be as honest as your¬ 
selves, I have great fear that you do not under¬ 
stand the case, and some fear that you will not 
study it. If the Waldenses were about to be 
ejected from those valleys, which they hold by 
solemn treaty, I could count on your interfer¬ 
ence. Or if the civil courts of Constantinople 
were tampering with the internal arrangements 
of our Ambassador’s chapel, I believe you 
would think it right that our government should 
remonstrate. Now that the Queen of Mada¬ 
gascar is concussing Christian consciences, I 
know that many of you are indignant, and 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


5 


would interpose your protection if you could. 
If you will hear me patiently, I promise to show 
that the cases are too parallel; and as I shall 
endeavour to relieve the subject of all intricate 
details and metaphysical niceties, so I earnestly 
trust that, if I make out a case of grievance or 
of suffering for conscience’ sake, you who have 
ere now listened to a voice from Piedmont, will 
not shut your ears against a voice from the 
Church of Scotland. 

At the Revolution— which you and we 
agree in calling glorious —the government 
restored to Scotland the religion which the Re¬ 
formers gave it. Presbyterianism was estab¬ 
lished; that is to say, a Presbyterian minister 
was planted in every parish. A house was as¬ 
signed to this minister to live in; four or five 
acres of land were annexed to this house, on 
which some oats and barley might grow, and 
a cow might pasture; and then to purchase 
books and furniture, and fuel, and other crea¬ 
ture-comforts not indigenous to the glebe, a 
small salary from a portion of the ancient tithes 
was superadded. In consideration of the 
manse, glebe, and stipend, the people of that 
parish were entitled to the services of the min¬ 
ister, could claim their seat in the parish church, 
and enjoy rich and poor alike, the ordinances 
of religion. In those happy days each parish 
chose its own elders, and they, along with such 
1 * 


6 


THE HARP 


of the .anded proprietors as were members of 
the Church, chose the minister. And as they 
usually chose the best, Scotland “ flourished by 
the preaching of the Word.” 

So eminently had Scotland become a Chris¬ 
tian nation, that when a union with England 
began to be agitated, the main subject of soli¬ 
citude was the national religion. The wisest 
men then perceived, what has since been am¬ 
ply verified, that the Union would be produc¬ 
tive of many temporal benefits to the Scottish 
people. But all were apprehensive that the 
Church might eventually suffer. They knew 
that in the Parliament which would hereafter 
govern them, not one vote in ten would be a 
Presbyterian vote; and when any question 
arose affecting the Church of Scotland, it 
might be misunderstood and mis-settled. To 
relieve this nervousness of the nation, a clause 
was put into the Articles of Union providing 
that the Church of Scotland, as it then exist¬ 
ed, should never be altered, and that the Sove¬ 
reign should swear, on his accession, to main¬ 
tain that Church in all its privileges. 

This solemn stipulation quieted the appre¬ 
hensions of the people ; and after the pathos 
naturally felt at the “ end of the auld sang”* 

* “ There’s an end of an auld sang”—the observation of the 
Lord Chancellor Seafield, as he adjourned the Scottish Par¬ 
liament for ever. 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


7 


had passed away, the country was settling 
down into complacency with the new state of 
things, when an incident occurred which veri¬ 
fied the gloomiest forebodings of the old pa¬ 
triotic party, and fixed in the vitals of the 
Scottish Establishment an arrow which, after 
rankling for a century, threatens to be fatal now. 

Towards the latter end of the reign of 
Queen Anne, it is well known that the Jaco¬ 
bite party were engaged in machinations to 
subvert the Protestant succession and restore 
the Pretender to the throne. Rightly judging 
that Presbyterianism, and the Presbyterian 
clergy, formed the main barrier to their purpo¬ 
ses in the North, they resolved, if possible, to 
neutralize this element. It struck them that 
if they.could get the appointment of the cler¬ 
gy into their own hands, they might gradually 
fill the Church with men after their own hearts. 
Accordingly, to the consternation of every leal- 
hearted Scotchman, word arrived in Edinburgh 
in the end of March, 1712, that a bill had 
been introduced into Parliament for bestowing 
on certain patrons the power of presenting 
ministers to all the parishes in Scotland. Some 
of the ablest ministers were forthwith despatch¬ 
ed to London with instructions to offer the most 
strenuous opposition to the measure. But it 
was the policy of its authors to precipitate it to 
the utmost, that it might be an Act of Parlia- 


8 


THE HARP 


ment before Scotland could raise its remon¬ 
strance, and they succeeded. Though Princi¬ 
pal Carstares and his colleagues posted to Lon¬ 
don as fast as their horses could carry them, 
they found the Bill in the House of Lords al¬ 
ready : and though they succeeded in getting 
a hearing at the bar of the House, Lord Boling- 
broke had made up his mind ; and no sooner 
had the counsel for the Scotch Commissioners 
ended, than it was moved that the Bill be now 
read a second time, which being agreed to, it 
was committed, reported, and read a third 
time—the whole five stages being condensed 
with dramatic effect into a single day. By 
this Act, Presbyteries were “ obliged to receive 
and admit such qualified persons as should be 
presented by the respective patrons.” 

Heavy as was this blow, and discouraged as 
people were, there was still some hope concern¬ 
ing this thing. So deep-rooted was the popu¬ 
lar aversion to patronage, that it was some time 
before patrons ventured to issue presentations, 
or presentees to accept them, and some even 
hoped that the act might tacitly subside into a 
dead letter. On the other hand, though the 
General Assembly* felt that they and their peo¬ 
ple had lost a 'privilege —and that they felt this 
is sufficiently proved by the fact, that down to 

. * The Supreme Ecclesiastical Court of Scotland, consisting 
of ministers and ruling elders. 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


9 


1784 they continued to protest against patron¬ 
age as a “ grievance”—they hoped that they 
had not lost their freedom —that even were 
patronage in active operation there might still 
be protection for the people in the courts of the 
Church. There existed on the Scottish statute- 
book and unrepealed law, declaring that “ the 
Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church, 
hath therein appointed a government in the 
hand of Church-officers, distinct from the civil 
magistrateand “ that the civil magistrate 
may not assume to himself administration of the 
Word and Sacraments, or the power of the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven.” 

They believed that the Act establishing the 
Church had made the spiritual courts the final 
judge in causes spiritual, even as it had made 
the civil courts the final judge in causes civil. 
They hoped, that in virtue of this co-ordinate 
and independent jurisdiction, they might decide 
for themselves whether the patron’s nominee 
was or was not a qualified person, and admit 
or reject him accordingly. At all events, as a 
'presentation to a living is a mere civil affair, 
and the admission to the cure of souls is a 
spiritual act, the Church courts imagined that 
if they should at any time be constrained, in 
compliance with the prayers of the people, to 
reject a patron’s presentee, it would be compen¬ 
sation enough if the patron got the fruits of the 


10 


THE HARP 


benefice (as the law provides), in which ease 
the patron might give his protege the living , 
and a more acceptable pastor might get the 
cure of souls. By considerations like these, the 
Church of Scotland flattered herself that her 
people would still enjoy protection, and her 
Church courts, spiritual freedom. This persua¬ 
sion became positive assurance, when it was 
found how scrupulously the secular courts ab¬ 
stained from tampering with spiritual sentences. 
In those days the Supreme Civil Court of Scot¬ 
land* refused to interfere when asked to dis¬ 
charge or overrule the deliverances of the eccle¬ 
siastical courts; and they did sp on the simple 
ground that the Church courts knew best how 
to deal with spiritual questions; and even if 
they did not, the constitution of the country 
had made the Church Courts supreme 

IN THE SPIRITUAL PROVINCE. 

Whether Lord Karnes and Monboddo and 
the other judges of last century were too fas¬ 
tidious in their non-interference—whether they 
were actuated by a spirit of chivalrous etiquette, 
or by their knowledge of constitutional law— 
certain it is, that they forbore from reviewing 
the sentences of spiritual courts, even as the 
spiritual courts forbore from reviewing theirs. 
The General Assembly did pot decide on dis¬ 
puted march-dykes, or marriage settlements; 

* The Court of Session. 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


11 


nor did the Court of Session decide on the fit¬ 
ness of ministers for their parishes, or of candi¬ 
dates for admission to the communion-table. 
The General Assembly imposed no fines, and 
sent nobody to prison ; -and the Court of Ses¬ 
sion, widysimilar forbearance, neither ordained 
ministei^jnor deposed them—neither admitted 
church members, nor # excommunicated them. 
Somehow or other, they held on their several 
ways in wondrous harmony. There were no 
collisions, for each kept his own line. 

Dear reader, if I thought you had patience 
for it, I would tell you how the collision arose, 
and I am sure, if you knew all the particulars 
and were on the. jury, you would give a deo- 
dand on the Court of Session engine. 

It was in the year 1834, on the 24th of May 
•—I remember it well, for I was there myself— 
and in the Tron Kirk of Edinburgh, where the 
General Assembly was sitting, that a ruling 
elder rose to bring forward a motion. His 
name was Sir James Moncrieff, a man long 
known at the bar of Scotland as the best law¬ 
yer there, and by that time one of the Lords of 
Session. He made a speech very learned and 
very long;—of which speech the substance 
was, that ever since the Reformation, the 
Church of Scotland had paid respect to the 
wishes of the people in the settlement of min¬ 
isters ; so much so, that according to its uni- 


12 


THE HARP 


form interpretation, no minister was qualified 
for a parish, unless he were acceptable to its 
Christian people, the communicants of that 
parish. But though the doctrine of the Church 
had been uniform, its practice had varied. A 
call or invitation from the people had always 
been, in Presbyterial usage, a pre-ii|jj.iisite to 
the settlement of a minister. But sometimes 
this call had been so * scanty that it could 
scarcely be deemed an invitation. And with 
a view to make the practice correspond with 
the theory, he would propose that, whenever a 
patron issued a presentation, the very first 
thing the Presbytery should do, would be to 
send the presentee to preach in that parish, and 
then to call together the male heads of families 
in communion with the Church, and ascertain 
their mind. If they consented to have this 
man for their minister, good and well. The 
Presbytery should proceed to examine him, and 
if they found hi3 literature, theology, and 
character, sufficient to warrant them in ordain¬ 
ing him, they should admit him to that parish. 
But if a majority came forward, and solemnly 
declared that—apart from all factious motives 
—they were constrained, by regard for their 
own and their children’s souls, to refuse this 
man for their minister, Lord Moncrieff pro¬ 
posed, that this Veto by a majority of the people 
should disqualify that presentee, and that the 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


13 


Presbytery should not intrude him into that 
parish against the expressed mind of its Chris¬ 
tian householders;* but should send word to 
the patron that he might present another. The 
majority of the Assembly thought this an ex¬ 
cellent proposal; all the rather that the Crown 
lawyers, the Lord Advocate and Solicitor- 
General, declared that it was perfectly compe¬ 
tent for the Assembly, in virtue of its inherent 
powers, to pass such a law, and as it was a 
judge of the Supreme Civil Court, and one so 
noted for his legal skill, who introduced the 
measure. And so, to the great joy of thou¬ 
sands, the Yeto Law was passed.t 

For some time it wrought delightfully, and 
almost every one was saying, How much the 
patrons are improved! for, in point of fact, the 
patrons presented such acceptable ministers, 
that out of 200 only ten were vetoed. But at 

* The Veto Law restricted the privilege of objecting, in the 
settlement of ministers, to those parishioners who were both 
heads of houses and members of the Church. In Scotland, 
none are communicants, or members of the Church, except 
those with whose religious knowledge and good character 
the ministers and elders are satisfied. In Church-of-Scotland 
language, the people are the communicants, the members of 
the Church, the professing Christian people. 

+ It is important to remark, that in this Assembly were no 
chapel ministers, or ministers of quoad sacra parishes. Besides 
the Crown Lawyers in Scotland, the Lord High Chancellor, 
and the Attorney-General of England, both extolled the Veto 
Law, as a great public improvement. 

2 


14 


THE HARP 


last, the new law fell heavy on one individual. 
A licentiate,!—was presented to a large parish, 
with 3,000 inhabitants. Two of the people 
thought that he might do well enough for a 
minister ; but all the rest thought that he was 
not fit to be their minister. Consequently, the 
Presbytery refused to admit him. Hereupon 
this man and his patron raised an action 
against the Presbytery, and petitioned the Court 
of Session to find that the Presbytery was 
hound to take him on trial, with a view to ad¬ 
mission. So far as any spiritual consequences 
(such as ordination) were implied in the de¬ 
cision, the Presbytery declined the competency 
of the Court of Session to judge the case ; but 
as they were anxious to ascertain whether their 
rejection of a vetoed presentee implied that he 
should also lose the living, they allowed the 
case to be argued in their name so far as any 
civil effect was concerned. Five of the judges 

* In the Church of Scotland there is a staff of probation¬ 
ers or licentiates who are allowed to preach, but who exer¬ 
cise no other function of the ministry. These probationers 
are eligible for the ministry, but they are not ministers. They 
have received no ordination, and are permitted to preach 
merely to make trial of their gifts. If a probationer who is 
presented to a parish, be not unacceptable to the people, he 
is ordained and becomes a minister. Allowing that patronage 
is a trust reposed in patrons by the State, it becomes an in¬ 
teresting question, whether this trust is designed for the be¬ 
nefit of probationers or the good of the people'? It has 
usually been exercised for behoof of the former. 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


15 


held that this was not a case for the Court of 
Session at all; but that if they were to give an 
opinion, they must say that the General As¬ 
sembly had done quite right in passing the 
Veto Law, and the Presbytery had done no 
wrong in obeying it.* But the other eight 
judges were of a contrary opinion, and the 
House of Lords affirmed their judgment. 

Since this decision, it has become the fashion 
in the North to carry every case out of the 
Church courts into the Court of Session. Pres¬ 
byteries are prohibited from deposing ministers 
convicted of drunkenness and theft. Ministers 
are prohibited, under pain of imprisonment, 
from preaching in certain districts Of country. 
Kirk sessions are forbidden to debar from the 
Lord’s table parties whose presence they con¬ 
sider a desecration. And the General Assem¬ 
bly itself is not at liberty to admit any member, 
whom the Court of Session may disapprove. 
And so uniformly do a majority of their Lord- 
ships decide against the ecclesiastical parties, 
even when their decisions contradict one an¬ 
other, that it has become the more prudent, 
because more economical course, to allow judg- 

* Besides Lord Mencrieff, the original author of the Veto 
Law, these five included Lords Jeffrey (more familiarly 
known in the worlds of philosophy and criticism as Francis 
Jeffrey,) Cockburn, Glenlec, and Fullerton. The names of 
the other eight, however respectable in their station, would 
not be interesting to English readers. 


16 


THE HARP 


ment to go forth in absence. As it is, the law 
expenses have become such a grievous fine, 
that the stipend of some parishes is arrested for 
payment of costs, and pious and accomplished 
ministers, with their families, are, in the absence 
of their wonted income, reduced to painful 
straits. Though this be matter of exultation 
with their oppressors, and not complained of 
by the sufferers themselves, the English nation 
is not what it was, if such severities when known 
arouse no indignation. 

But to resume and end this narrative. The 
Presbytery of Auchterarder did not obey the 
sentence of the civil courts, ordering them to 
admit to the ministry the vetoed presentee. 
They refused, because they believed that the 
court had, in this cause, no right to command. 
They refused, because they thought it would 
be a solemn mockery and a sin to ordain a 
man to a cure of souls, where every one de¬ 
precated and dreaded his admission. They 
thought, that the only inducement to ordain 
him would be to give him a right to the sti¬ 
pend ; and as the patron was now in the pos¬ 
session of the stipend, he might, if he pleased, 
hand it over to his protege. But the presentee 
prosecuted the Presbytery for 16,000/. of dam¬ 
ages, because of the wrong which they had 
done him in refusing to admit him; and both 
the Court of Session and the House of Lords 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


17 


having found in his favour, it is now finally 
declared by the civil courts, that they will 
enforce their sentences against the spiritual 
courts by civil pains and penalties , the or¬ 
dinary compulsitors of the law: 

When this decision was given last autumn 
it put an end to all expectation from the civil 
courts. Till then, the most desponding could 
scarce believe their own forebodings, or per¬ 
suade themselves that their Church was so 
changed from what their ancestors had left it, 
and they themselves once imagined it to be. 
But the decision of last August ended every 
dream, and bade the Church make ready for 
the worst. 

It was in this emergency that the Meeting or 
Convocation mentioned in the outset was con¬ 
vened. It originated with a select body of the 
oldest and most experienced ministers. They 
invited all of their brethren who had manifested 
concern for the ancient constitution of the 
Church, to assemble in Edinburgh, on the 17th 
of November last. Nearly 500 came together j 
and it was very plain that no ordinary call 
could have brought from the remotest head¬ 
lands of a rugged land, such a company in the 
dead season of the year. 

After a prayer-meeting in St. George’s 
Church, and a sermon by Dr. Chalmers,—- 
“Unto the upright there ariseth light in the 


18 


THE HARP 


darkness,”—the ministers * adjourned to Rox 
burgh Church. Dr. Chalmers took the chair. 
It was agreed, that during each sederunt three 
of the brethren should engage in prayer; and 
in this way confession and supplication assumed 
a prominent place in the business of each Meet¬ 
ing. None but ministers were present. In or¬ 
der to encourage each member freely to speak 
his mind this privacy was requisite, and it 
tended greatly to impart a confiding and con¬ 
versational tone to their proceedings. For our 
own part, it made us feel, that the innermost 
side of good men is the best side; and whilst 
listening to the brotherly tone of their com- 
munings, so unlike the defiance and disdain of 
high debate, and to the noble sentiments of 
Christian heroism and self-renunciation which 
were ever and anon expressed, we wished that 
the world were present. And, during the de¬ 
votional exercises and at intervals throughout 
the deliberations, when sudden light or consola¬ 
tion broke in, in a way which brought tears to 
many eyes, we would have liked that all the 
Christians in the kingdom could be present, for 
we felt assured that the Lord himself was there. 
And then, when we looked at the materials of 
the Meeting and saw before us, with few ex¬ 
ceptions, all the talent, and, with still fewer ex¬ 
ceptions, all the piety of the Church of Scotland, 
we wished that those were present in whose 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


19 


power it lies to preserve to the Scottish Estab¬ 
lishment all this learning and this worth. 
There was the chairman,, who might so easily 
have been the Adam Smith, the Leibnitz, or 
the Bossuet of the day; but who, having ob¬ 
tained a better part, has laid economics, and 
philosophy, and eloquence on the altar which 
sanctified himself. There was Dr. Gordon, 
lofty in simplicity, whose vast conceptions and 
majestic emotions plough deeper the old chan¬ 
nels of customary words, and make common 
phrases appear solemn and sublime after he has 
used them. There were Dr. Keith, whose 
labours in the prophecies have sent his fame 
through Europe, and are yearly bringing con¬ 
verts into the Church of Christ; and Mr. James 
Buchanan, whose deep-drawn sympathy, and 
rich Bible-lore, and Christian refinement, have 
made him a son of consolation to so many of 
the sons of sorrow. There were Dr. Welsh, 
the biographer and bosom friend of Thomas 
Brown ; Dr. Forbes, atmong the most inventive 
of modern mathematicians ; and Dr. Paterson, 
whose u Manse Garden” is read for the sake of 
its poetry and wisdom and Christian kindness, 
where there are no gardens, and will be read 
for the sake of other days when there are no 
manses. And there was Dr. Patrick McFarlan, 
whose calm judgment is a sanction to any 
measure; and who, holding the richest bene- 


20 


THE HARP 


fice in Scotland, most appropriately moved the 
resolution, that rather than sacrifice their prin¬ 
ciples, they should surrender their possessions. 
And not to mention “names the poet must not 
speak,” there were in that assembly the men 
who are dearest of all to the godly throughout 
the land—the men whom the Lord hath de¬ 
lighted to honour—all the ministers in whose 
parishes have been great revivals, from the 
Apostle of the North, good old Mr. Macdbnald, 
whose happy countenance is a signal for ex¬ 
pectation and gladness in every congregation 
he visits; and Mr. Burns, of Kilsyth, whose af¬ 
fectionate counsels and prayers made the Con¬ 
vocation feel towards him as a father; down to 
those younger ministers of whom, but for our 
mutual friendship, I could speak more freely. 
When we looked at the whole, knowing some¬ 
thing of all, we felt, first, such an assembly 
never met in Scotland before ; secondly, it will 
depend on them, under God, whether Scotland 
can ever furnish such an* assembly again; and, 
thirdly, what a blot on any reign, and what a 
guilt on any Government, which casts forth 
such a company ! And then, after some sadder 
musings, came in this thought, Yet, what a 
blessing to the world if they were scattered 
abroad, everywhere preaching the word ! 

Six days were spent in deliberation. Nearly 
all agreed that the Church of Scotland was 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


21 


mined by the late decision, and that she could 
not submit to these encroachments of the civil 
courts without losing her character as a true 
Church of Christ. The next question was, 
What should be done ? It was agreed to make 
a final application to the Legislature for relief 
•—for protection to the Church courts in the 
| exercise of their spiritual jurisdiction—and if 
this application were refused, it was the almost 
universal conviction that it would be the duty 
of ministers and people, rather than protract 
the struggle and embroil the country, to leav^ 
the Establishment. 

Accordingly, that final application is now 
made ; and it depends very much on the peo¬ 
ple of England what answer shall be returned. 
i No measure will meet the case which does not 
give the Church courts of Scotland freedom 
from secular molestation in the discharge of 
their spiritual functions : in other words, no 
measure which does not give the ministers and 
Christian people of Scotland the same immu¬ 
nities which they believed till now to be their 
birthright, and which they unqestionably en¬ 
joyed in the reign of William III, The fol¬ 
lowing considerations in behalf of such a mea¬ 
sure, are respectfully submitted to whatever of 
justice, generosity, and Christian principle, may 
exist in England :— 

1. The Treaty of Union has been violated. 






22 


THE HARP 


By that treaty it was solemnly stipulated that 
the Presbyterian Church government, as then 
existing , should be the only Church govern¬ 
ment within the kingdom of Scotland ; and 
that each successive sovereign, “at his or her 
accession to the crown, should swear and sub¬ 
scribe, that they shall inviolably maintain and 
preserve the foresaid settlement of the true Pro¬ 
testant religion, with the government , worship, 
discipline, rights and privileges of this Church, 
as above established by the laws of this king¬ 
dom” (of Scotland.) Adherence to this stipu¬ 
lation is farther “ declared to be a fundamental 
and essential condition of the said treaty or 
union in all time coming.” And on the strength 
of this stipulation the Union was completed. 
Now, among “ the rights and privileges” which 
the Church of Scotland enjoyed before the 
Union, spiritual freedom was unquestionably 
one. Her people were not liable to the intru¬ 
sion of unacceptable ministers ; nor were her 
Church courts, when deliberating on the most 
sacred interests of Christ’s kingdom, liable to 
the intrusion, the intimidation, and coercion, 
of secular tribunals. If the Church has lost 
her freedom, when did she loose it ? To this 
there is only one answer : In the year 1712, 
five years after the Union was effected : A law 
was then enacted, which, if the interpretation 
put on it by the civil courts be sound, has 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


23 


robbed the Church of Scotland of the dearest 
“ right,” the most precious “ privilege,” which, 
at the time of the Union, she enjoyed; her 
accountability, in sacred things, to God alone. 
If this interpretation be incorrect, if the civil 
courts misunderstand the law, then the Legis¬ 
lature should say so, and rescue the Church 
from the groundless molestations of the secular 
power. If the interpretation be correct, if the 
civil courts rightly interpret the statute, then 
the Treaty of Union is broken, and Scotland 
must look to the good faith of England for 
redress. 

2. The case of the Church of Scotland is 
one of peculiar hardship. And when I say the 
Church of Scotland, I mean those in the Scot¬ 
tish Establishment who adhere, as almost all 
her pious ministers and people do adhere, to 
the original constitution of the Church of Scot¬ 
land. 

If they do not get redress, they must leave 
the Establishment; and even though it be for 
Christ's sake and the Gospel’s, there is some 
hardship in forsaking houses and lands. The 
manses of Scotland are pleasant homes ; and 
if you will ask any friend who ever took leave 
of one, he will tell you that it was a desolate 
day when the flitting was moving down the 
avenue, and after seeing that the kitchen-fire 
was out, and taking a last look of the dis- 


24 


THE HARP 


mantled parlour, he delivered the key to the 
new-comer, shook hands with the neighbours, 
and went away. The manse of a good min¬ 
ister is a hallowed dwelling, and more of in¬ 
door quiet, and family affection, and Sabbath- 
gladness, is condensed into it than into any 
home on earth; and after one who has been 
long its inmate has taken his last look of the 
deserted fields and smokeless chimneys, he feels 
it of little moment where he shall kindle his 
next fire. Besides, it is the place where all the 
parish naturally resort when advice or assist¬ 
ance is needed; where the sick send for cor¬ 
dials, and the sad go for comfort, and the per¬ 
plexed go for counsel; and whose simple hos¬ 
pitality ranges from the Sunday scholars up to 
parish elders, the farmers, and, sometimes, the 
laird . The consequence is, that though the 
Great House may be shut up for years, and the 
landlord with his establishment cease to sojourn 
in it, except in rare instances, it will not awaken 
such tenderness on either side as a removal 
from the manse. The people of Scotland are 
not given to the melting mood; and two cen¬ 
turies ago, when 400 ministers were constrained 
to leave their parishes for conscience’ sake, they 
felt it very hard; but neither they nor their 
people said much. When the creels* were 

* Large panniers slung over the horse’s back, in which the 
young children were carried. When Mr. Dunbar, the min- 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


25 


getting ready, the wife would, perhaps, draw 
a corner of her apron across her eyes, and the 
children could not very well comprehend it. 
There was little demonstration of feeling; and 
judging by the peaceful submission of the pas¬ 
tors, and the silence of their people, you would 
almost have thought that they acquiesced in 
the doings of that day. It was an illusion. 
The heart of Scotland was heaving with an 
indignant sorrow, which found its first relief 
when it hurled James Stuart from the throne. 
Should 400 ministers again be forced from their 
people and their homes, there will be no com¬ 
motion. All will pass over silently and peace¬ 
fully ; but in the hearts which constitute the 
heart of Scotland, in the bosoms of its noble- 
minded and Christian people, will be left a 
lasting and cruel sense of injury. 

There are other hardships connected with 
this case which I will not weary you by detailing. 
For instance, within the last eight years, and 
at a cost of about 300,000/., the people of Scot¬ 
land, with a few extraneous contributions, have 
built nearly 200 new churches for themselves. 
Almost all of these churches are built and oc¬ 
cupied by people and supplied by ministers who 

ister of Ayr, who had once before been banished from his 
parish, received a summons to leave it a second time, he 
merely said, “Well, goodwife, ye must e’en provide the 
creels again.” The saying became a sort of proverb. 

3 


26 


THE HARP 


must leave the Establishment, unless the Es¬ 
tablishment be emancipated. And what forms 
the hardship of this case is, that when the 
ministers and people go, the churches which 
they have reared at such a sacrifice will be 
claimed by others. 

Besides, many parishes are the property of 
a single individual, and that individual may be 
so hostile to the Gospel as to refuse ground for 
erecting another place of worship. Again,, the 
India and other missions of the Church of 
Scotland have been mainly supported by the 
parties about to be driven from the Church. 
The mission premises will fall into the hands 
of parties unable or unwilling to support them. 
The missions will be broken up ; and with 
crippled resources, the faithful remnant will be 
ill able to organize them anew. And last of 
all, some of the parishes which most prize the 
Gospel are least able to support it. In many 
places, the utmost efforts of the people are in¬ 
sufficient to procure food and raiment for them¬ 
selves. It would be mockery to ask them to 
maintain a ministry. It would be depriving 
them of their greatest blessing for either world, 
to take the ministry away. Putting out of 
view the intrinsic merits of the case, the .con¬ 
stitutional rights of the Church of Scotland, the 
equity of her claim, it would surely need to be 
a strong necessity which would justify any 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


27 


Legislature in virtually driving from their homes 
500 ministers of Christ, scattering the largest 
and liveliest congregations in Scotland; and 
leaving as sheep without a shepherd those 
parishes which most prize a faithful ministry. 

Perhaps some may say, But why go out ? 
Who bids them go,? Why not obey the law 
of the land, and remain where they are ? I 
answer, or rather they answer for themselves, 
Because the law is such that they cannot obey 
it. Had they known soon enough, that the 
civil law is what it is now declared to be, they 
would never have entered the Established 
Church ; and if the Legislature understand 
the law as the civil courts interpret it, now that 
they are in the Established Church they must 
leave it again. They wish to obey the law of 
the land, and in the hope that haply if they 
were out of the Establishment the law would 
then ask them to do nothing contrary to their 
consciences, they are leaving the Establishment. 
They go because they feel that it would be 
sinful to remain. Even as I might leave my 
dwelling if I found that the lease by which I 
hold it contained a stipulation with which it 
were criminal to comply. If I entered in ig¬ 
norance of its import, and if, now that I know 
the construction put upon it, I cannot get it 
altered, I must even go. It may be very hard, 
but I cannot help it. The ministers of Scot- 



28 


THE HARP 


land wish to lead quiet and peaceable lives; 
and rather than disturb the peace, they will 
abandon their earthly all. Outside of the Es¬ 
tablishment they are sure to find a clear con¬ 
science ; and there also there is more hope of a 
quiet unmolested life. 

3. Our Common Christianity is endangered. 

The 'principle for which the Church of 
Scotland is contending is one dear to every 
Christian man. It is one for which the early 
Nonconformists and the New England worthies 
contended so nobly—that God alone is Lord of 
the conscience, and that the highest tribunal 
on earth may not abridge the liberty where¬ 
with Christ hath made his people free. The 
doctrine of the Church of Scotland is, that the 
head of every spiritual man is Christ, and 
that when a company of spiritual men meet 
together in their spiritual capacity, Christ is 
still their Head. 

In other words, they hold that the Lord 
Jesus Christ is the only King and 
Head of the Church. In their ecclesias¬ 
tical procedure they desire to follow his will as 
that will is revealed in his word. They believe 
that the Spirit of God, speaking through spirit¬ 
ual men, is the sole interpreter of that Word ; 
and they cannot allow the commandments of 
men—the verdicts of secular courts—to inter¬ 
pose between them and their Heavenly King. 





ON THE WILLOWS. 


29 


Every Bible Christian will sympathize with 
them here. Daniel and his friends were jiot 
rebels. They were faithful to their king, 
though the king was a Pagan, and their con¬ 
queror. But in matters of faith they deemed 
it no disloyalty to disregard his decrees. The 
apostles respected lawful authority, but with 
the commission of their Master, “ Preach the 
Gospel to every creature,” they could not suffer 
any tribunal to interfere. “We ought to obey 
God rather than men.” And every Christian, 
be he a minister or a private member of the 
Church, will acknowledge that there are many 
things “ pertaining to the law of his God” in 
which he could not consent to be ruled by 
secular men. 

The Church of Scotland is an Established 
Church. Its ministers are endowed. But it 
has always been their belief that in accepting 
this endowment they surrendered nothing. 
Their theory of an Establishment is, that the 
nation selects a Church whose constitution and 
worship it approves, and on this Church, for 
the benefit of the nation, bestows the bounty 
of an endowment. But they do not see how 
this necessarily implies subjection to the State, 
or the loss of any spiritual privilege. Suppose 
a rich man endowed a Dissenting chapel, it is 
presumed that upon the whole he approves of 
the doctrines taught and the worship practised 
3 * 


30 


THE HARP 


there; whilst, on the other hand, their accept¬ 
ing of his liberality does not imply that they 
give him the power of admitting or rejecting 
the members, or of tampering with the inter¬ 
nal order of that Church. 

The Church of Scotland existed as a Church 
before it became an Establishment. The Na¬ 
tion found it a Church already existing. The 
nation approved its polity, its doctrines, and 
worship. The nation offered to take it even as 
it stood , and endow it. The Chuch accepted 
the nation’s offer. But so far from surrendering 
any peculiarity or privilege, it was expressly 
stipulated that, in accepting this endowment, 
the Church should surrender nothing—that it 
should remain the same free, and spiritual, and 
independent Church which it had ever been. 
And whatever may be the case with other en¬ 
dowed Churches, it has always been the belief 
of its members that the Church of Scotland, 
though Established , is free —as free as 
Churches not Established are. In other words, 
the office-bearers and members of the Scotch 
Establishment believed that if civil courts found 
a pretext for interfering with them, they would 
find as good a pretext for interfering with the 
office-bearers and members of non-established 
Churches. 

In this confidence, the Church of Scotland 
has not erred. In the case of the Scotch Seces- 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


31 


sion Church, .the Court of Session has recently 
laid down the principle, that even this Church, 
in the exercise of its spiritual jurisdiction, is 
amenable to the civil magistrate. The Court 
of Session claims the power of discharging se- 
ceder ministers and elders from proceeding 
against heretical or disorderly members, in 
cases where civil consequences, such as loss of 
character or emolument, are involved. And as 
every case may be reduced to this category, the 
Court of Session virtually claims the power of 
reviewing and altering the sentences of all re¬ 
ligious communities, established and non-es¬ 
tablished, within the kingdom of Scotland. 

I think that all Christian men should view 
this last result with consternation. It is the 
working out of a principle which every faithful 
follower of Christ is bound to resist in its begin¬ 
nings, for it will eventually be the destruction 
of all our Churches, and the death of religious 
freedom. 

Independently of this, I cannot view the 
coming overthrow of the Scotch Establishment 
—for if its best ministers and most devoted mem¬ 
bers be driven out of it, it is virtually over¬ 
thrown—I cannot contemplate the destruction 
of the Scotch Establishment at the present mo¬ 
ment without apprehension. Different Churches 
have been honoured to testify for different truths; 
but of all national Churches the Church of 


32 


THE HARP 


Scotland has borne the loudest and most em¬ 
phatic testimony of the Supremacy of Christ. 
It has testified for this truth in opposition to 
the supremacy of the priesthood on the one 
hand, and of the civil power on the other. It 
protests that the clergy shall not be u lords over 
God’s heritagebut recognising every regen¬ 
erate man as one of the “ royal priesthood,” 
claims for the Christian people rights with 
which even the Christian pastor must not inter¬ 
meddle. 

And on the other hand it protests, that 
Cesar shall not claim the things which belong 
to God ; but believing that Christ’s kingdom is 
not of this world,” it claims for the rulers in 
Christ’s house, rights and privileges with which 
the secular ruler must not interfere. These 
privileges of the Christian people, and this in¬ 
dependence of the Church, are obnoxious alike 
to spiritual despots and unbelieving worldlings. 
The lordly ecclesiastic cannot trust the people; 
the infidel civilian cannot trust the Church. 
The supremacy of Christ is doubly assaulted at 
this day; and if the faithful Witness which 
has prophecied this truth so long should now 
be slain, a main barrier to Infidel and Papal 
incursions will be taken out of the way. 

Christian Brethren of this free English land, 
I leave the matter with you. Necessity was 


ON THE WILLOWS. 


33 


laid on me when I took up this pen, and noth¬ 
ing but a solemn conviction of duty could have 
urged me to bring this matter before you in a 
season of so many and momentous exigences as 
is this. I believe that the case of the Church of 
Scotland is a case of injustice and oppression, 
and I believe that it is in the power of the peo¬ 
ple of England, by petitioning Parliament and 
enlightening their respective representatives, to 
redress the wrong and remove the grievance. 
I have much faith in the justice of English¬ 
men, and some experience of their generosity; 
but I have more faith in Christianity, than 
even in national character. I believe that a 
man who is both just and generous may be too 
busy to attend to an appeal; or even if he do 
attend, that he may miss the merits of the case, 
and not comprehending it, may pronounce an 
unrighteous judgment. But I believe this is a 
case which every enlightened Christian may 
understand, for its first principles are familiar to 
him. And I believe, moreover, that it is a case 
in which English Christianity is concerned, 
“ for if one member suffer, all the members suf¬ 
fer with it.” And I believe, finally, that it is a 
case in which English Christians will lend 
their sympathy and aid—for such is the Mas¬ 
ter’s will: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and 

SO fulfil THE LAW OF CHRIST.” 


REMEMBERING ZION 


TO SCOTCHMEN IN LONDON. 


When the Israelites were in a city, vast and 
ungodly, like London,—a city without a Sab¬ 
bath—they used when they had opportunity, 
to sit down and talk of the fair land and the 
lovely temple from which they had been 
wrenched away. “ By the rivers of Babylon, 
there we sat down j yea, we wept when we 
remembered Zion.” Dear fellow-countrymen, 
most of you are so far like the Israelites, that 
you remember with tenderness the land of your 
birth, and cannot bear that others should speak 
of it disparagingly. You like to be reminded 
of the scenery of Scotland, the summer ver¬ 
dure of its straths and glens, and the polished 
fulness of its deep blue lakes, its wailing win¬ 
ter torrents, and the snow-laden mountains 
which feed them. And you love its ancient 
minstrelsy, the gathering songs, in whose high 
pulse the hero-hearts of the olden time still throb, 





REMEMBERING ZION. 


35 


and those pathetic dirges which were nature’s 
own anthems, chanted by moorland winds and 
lonely waterfalls, long before man set them to 
his music. But there are glorious things of 
Scotland which you have still more reason to 
remember ; you have not forgotten the schools 
and sanctuaries, and sabbath-days, which once 
were Scotland’s own; and perhaps, you will 
not refuse to listen a few moments, whilst we 
would call them to remembrance. Let us 
here, in this busy tumultuous Babylon, sit 
down for a little and remember our Zion. 

You remember the Sabbath days of Scot¬ 
land. You remember how the Sabbath was 
wont weekly to set every house in order through¬ 
out the land. You remember the Saturday 
evening’s preparation for the Sabbath’s rest;— 
the early cessation of labour in the fields and 
factories, the timely marketing, the lustration of 
each apartment, the arranging of household 
furniture, the fetching home of water from the 
well, and the storing of faggots for the fuel, the 
busy exertions of young and old to anticipate 
and supersede all Sabbath toil, which resulted 
in imparting beforehand a look of Sabbatic 
neatness and tranquillity to the well-ordered 
habitation. You remember, too, the friendly 
visits which neighbour families were wont to 
exchange that evening, loth to invade the sanctity 
of one another’s houses on the Lord’s own day; 


36 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


but glad to take advantage of this breathing 
time, to cement those friendships which they 
meant to be hereditary. You remember the 
Sabbath dawn, with its morning orisons, and 
the prompt preparations for the house of God. 
You ^remember the fresh and wholesome as¬ 
pect of the mustering population, as they 
wended slowly through the church-yard; the 
spectacled matron with her bulky Bible wrap¬ 
ped in its snowy kerchief, and provided with a 
fragrant sprig of some favourite herb: the 
cottar in the homespun suit, which the Sabbath 
storms of many winters had washed but had 
not tattered ; and the artizan with his children, 
whose countenances forgot their week-day toil, 
as they put off their week-day garments. If 
it were a parish over which a man of God pre¬ 
sided, you remember the reverence of their 
worship and the solemnity of their hearing; 
whilst one who understood the case of each, 
spoke home to the hearts of all, and their com¬ 
mon confessions, and thanksgivings, and sup¬ 
plications, uttered by one voice, were echoed by 
a hundred hearts. You remember the heart- 
music which you sometimes heard at the up¬ 
rising of the great congregation, when the burly 
voice of manhood and the quivering notes of palsy 
stricken age, “young men and maidens, old men 
and children,” praising God, told that he had 
made their hearts fight glad. You remember the 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


37 


Sabbath eve, when the children’s tasks were 
over, and the sermons had been repeated ; and 
with the Bible or the Pilgrim’s Progress, or the 
Four-fold State, each hied away to the barn or 
the fir plantation, or some of the thousand cot¬ 
tage oratories, which God knows full well in 
that land of many worshippers, till the down¬ 
ward sun reminded them that it was time to 
close these solitary studies, and gather round 
the household hearth once more. 

O Scotland! much I love thy tranquil dales ; 

But most on Sabbath eve, when low the sun 
Slants through the upland copse, ’tis my delight, 
Wandering and stopping oft to hear the song 
Of kindred praise arise from humble roofs; 

Or, when the simple service ends, to hear 
The lifted latch, arid mark the grey-haired man, 

The father and the priest walk forth alone, 

Into his garden plot, or little field, 

To commune with his God in secret prayer. 

We could recal scenes more sacred still,— 
the solemnities of communion seasons,—the 
hallowed incidents of domestic life,—and the 
dying testimonies and exhortations of well- 
assured believers. The memory of many a 
reader can recal the whole, for it is not so long 
ago since the beauty of holiness adorned many 
regions of that land ; the relic of better days, 
or the result of a religious revival in these latter 
tinjes. But there is no need. It is generally 

4 


38 REMEMBERING ZION. 

conceded, that Scotland was once a religious 
country—more so, perhaps, than any nation in 
Christendom ; and, it is as generally conceded, 
that in its better days, Scotland owed to its 
church whatever family or personal religion it 
possessed. But on such a subject, it is safest 
to hear a stranger. I therefore quote the words 
of one who paid a long visit to that kingdom up¬ 
wards of a century ago, and whose verdict is more 
decisive, inasmuch as he was neither a Scotch¬ 
man nor a Presbyterian. “ When we view the 
soundness and purity of her doctrine— the 
strictness and severity of her discipline— 
the decency and order of her worship— the 
gravity and majesty of her government : 
when we see the modesty, humility, and yet 
steadiness of her assemblies ; the learning, dili¬ 
gence, and painful ness of her ministers ; the 
awful solemnity of her administration ; the 
obedience, seriousness, and frequency of her 
people in hearing, and universally an air of 
sobriety and gravity on the whole nation ; we 
must own her to be at this time, the best regu¬ 
lated national church in the world, without 
reflection upon any of the other nations, where 
the protestant religion is established and pro¬ 
fessed.”* 

Assuming, therefore, that Christianity once 
throve wonderfully in our native land, and as- 

* Defoe’s Memoirs of the Church of Scotland, 1717. 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


39 


suming that the Church of Scotland was the 
instrument which God employed to bring about 
this flourishing state of religion, it may be 
worth while to inquire, whether there be any 
peculiarity in that church to which these bles¬ 
sed results are owing. And in doing this, we 
wish not to disparage other denominations. 
We believe that God has owned many churches 
as well as ours. We have Christian friends in 
the Church of England whom we dearly love. 
We rejoice to know that Independents, and 
Baptists, and Wesleyans, and many others can 
produce seals of apostleship,* in multitudes of 
converted souls, as well as we. But we do 
think, if Church History is of any use, that 
we should search it to see which form of Chris¬ 
tianity best fulfils the purposes of a Church of 
Christ: and we do think it no slight matter to 
depart from scriptural rules and usages, even 
in the minutiae of church government and wor¬ 
ship. And from all that we know of the New 
Testament, and the history of other churches, 
we feel truly thankful that we are members of 
the Scottish Church. 

I. We are thankful for its doctrinal stand¬ 
ards. They are clear and simple, and at every 
sentence they appeal to the written word of 
God. They are self-consistent. There is not 
a word in the confession which contradicts the 
* 1 Cor. ix. 2. 


40 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


Catechism, and not a word in either which con¬ 
tradicts the Scriptures. We are the more thankful 
for this after observing that conscientious mem¬ 
bers of other churches are embarrassed by real 
or apparent contradictions in their standards, 
which it requires an exercise of an ingenuity 
hurtful to the conscience, to reconcile with 
themselves or with the truth. The standards 
of the Church of Scotland contain the Reform¬ 
ation doctrines in their fulness. They are 
not peculiar to our Church. They were pre¬ 
pared by an assembly of the most gifted and 
godly divines in Britain, and are the result of 
years spent in deliberation, mutual conference, 
and prayer. Speaking of the Westminster 
Assembly, says their contemporary, Richard 
Baxter, “ The divines there congregated were 
men of eminent learning and godliness, and 
ministerial abilities and fidelity. And being 
not worthy to be one of them myself, I may 
the more freely speak that truth which I know, 
even in the. face of malice and envy ; that as 
far as I am able to judge by the information 
of all history of that kind, and by any other 
evidences left us, the Christian world, since the 
days of the apostles had never a synod of more 
excellent divines (taking one thing with 
another) than this synod and the synod of 
Dort were.”* And his verdict is confirmed by 

* Baxter’s Life and Times, folio, p. 73. 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


41 


the enlightened and devoted Archbishop Usher. 
The Christian world has given its suffrage in 
favour of the Westminster Assembly, for no 
summary faith has been so widely taught as 
its Shorter Catechism. It is a favourite with 
almost all the Evangelical denominations. 
And is it not a matter of thankfulness to be¬ 
long to a church which at once enjoys scriptu¬ 
ral standards, and symbolizes with the other 
Churches of Christ. 

II. We are thankful for the simple and spi¬ 
ritual worship which God has preserved in the 
Church of Scotland. There is no church 
which he has more thoroughly delivered from 
carnal ordinances and commandments of men. 
Those who worship the Father in spirit, find 
nothing here to trammel or encumber them. 
Those who cannot so worship, will find no 
substitute for devotion to delude them. We do 
not wish to introduce any thing into our wor¬ 
ship which our Master did not warrant, and 
which his first disciples did not practise. The 
psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs—the 
prayers not read from a human form, but 
prompted to the heart by the Spirit of suppli¬ 
cation ; the reading and preaching of the 
Word, are our ordinary sanctuary service. 11 It 
is the Spirit that quickeneth,” and where He 
is not , a form of prayer will not quicken ; and 
where he is , a form of prayer is not needed. 
4* 


42 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


When our ministers are carnal unconverted 
men, our worship is sufficiently formal ; when 
they are men u full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost,” our worship is lively and life-giving. 
The Lord Jesus designed that none but men 
of prayer should be his ministers ; and his 
people should choose none but these for their 
pastors. Wherever we have faithful ministers 
we have New Testament worship. Our direc¬ 
tory for worship contemplates nothing less, and 
admits of nothing more. We keep the feast 
as our Master appointed. We do not kneel 
in receiving the sacramental bread and wine, 
for Christ’s disciples did not kneel; and kneel¬ 
ing is not the attitude of those who celebrate a 
feast. We have no altar, for \ye believe that 
Christ was offered once ; and we do not find 
in Scripture the sacrament of the Supper called 
a sacrifice, nor the Lord’s table an altar. Our 
worship may have little pomp. It does not 
attract the carnal eye nor the carnal ear ; but 
it is enough for us that it satisfies the regene¬ 
rated soul; and those who have worshipped 
in our churches during seasons of refreshing * 
from on high, never felt that the service was mea¬ 
gre, or that forms of prayer would improve it. 

III. We are thankful for the efficient govern¬ 
ment enjoyed by the Church of Scotland. We 
have ministers—whose special office is to 
preach the word and dispense the sacraments. 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


43 


There are no ranks nor degrees among our 
ministers. We have one King, even the 
Lord Jesus, and all of us are brethren. None 
exercise lordship over the other, Luke xxii. 25, 
26. All are alike bishops, that is, overseers of 
their particular flocks. All are alike evangelists, 
or preachers of the gospel. All are alike pres¬ 
byters or elders. This is what is meant by 
presbyterian parity. Then besides ministers 
or u elders who labour in the word and doc¬ 
trine,” (1 Tim. v. 17.) we have ruling elders, 
whose office is to aid the minister in the over¬ 
sight and government of the church—visiting 
the people, instructing and exhorting—giving 
their counsel where it is asked or needed,— 
and watching and praying together for the 
spiritual prosperity of the flock. And lastly, 
we have deacons, who like their representatives 
in the apostolic age, make it their special 
business to care for the poor, and superintend 
those arrangements which promote the out¬ 
ward comfort of the congregation. Our gov¬ 
ernment is not arbitrary : it is the government 
of love and good-will. It is the government 
of brethren consulting together for the peace 
and purity of the congregation of which we 
are all alike members, and for the honour of 
our heavenly King, of whom we are all alike 
subjects. And if any thing occurs where we 
wish advice, or where any one feels himself 


44 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


aggrieved, there is the Presbytery or Synod, 
the council of associated ministers and elders 
to whom we can go. (Acts xv.) In this we 
are all like the first reformed churches, with a 
single exception ; and here again we are thank¬ 
ful that in our ecclesiastical polity we should 
so nearly agree with all these Churches of 
Christ, the Churches of Holland, Switzerland, 
and Germany, the Huguenots of France, the 
primitive Waldenses, and our own apostolical 
Culdees. 

IV. The Lord has blessed the Church of 
Scotland with a succession of holy and faith¬ 
ful ministers. Time would fail to tell them 
all. But there were its protomartyrs, Patrick 
Hamilton, more noble as Christ’s faithful 
witness than as King James’s kinsman ; and 
George Wish art, the smoke of whose im¬ 
molation wafted the gospel where his voice 
had failed to carry it. There was its great 
Reformer Knox, with his excellent spirit, 
patriotic, most forgetful of himself and of his 
enemies, but most loyal to his God, by sim¬ 
plicity of faith, outwitting crafty men, and 
with the straightforward zeal of an honest, 
and therefore fearless heart, achieving results 
which are only possible to him that believeth. 
There were John Welch, who after many 
hours spent in prayer, would preach sermons 
to which few could listen without weeping: 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


45 


Robert Bruce, before whose searching eye, 
the most intricate and subtle natures felt them¬ 
selves revealed; and beneath whose voice 
gnarled cedars bent like willows, for the Spirit 
of God spake by him ; of whose prayers it is 
said, “ each sentence was a bolt shot into hea¬ 
ven ; as of his sermons, each sentence was a 
bolt shot from heaven into the heart Hugh 
Binning, who laid his fine philosophy and 
precocious scholarship and classic taste all at the 
feet of Jesus, and was honoured to deliver 
those discourses, to which grey haired theolo¬ 
gians listened, and protested there was 11 no 
speaking after him and which fastidious 
critics now read, and wonder how writings, so 
pure and elegant, could be produced in a rude 
country and in a pedantic age: Andrew 
Gray, whom the Lord made ready in such 
haste for himself, that ere he reached his 
twenty-second year, believers ripe for glory, 
saw that he was riper still; and whose enrap¬ 
tured anticipations of the heavenly com¬ 
munion, are to this day the solace of many 
an aged pilgrim and dying saint in Scotland : 
James Durham, the humble evangelist, who 
rejoiced to decrease that his Master might in¬ 
crease, but withal the Spirit-taught counsellor, 
to whom far-travelled inquirers came, and 
blessed God for a guide so skilful and judicious: 
Samuel Rutherford, who lived so much 


4G 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


on high, that you wonder how he had patience 
to amass such learning, and write so many 
books—perhaps, the completest instance of 
absorbing affection for the person of a living 
Saviour—the liveliest example of a life hid 
with Christ in God, which these latter ages 
have produced; William Guthrie, whose 
benign and gentle spirit drew all men after 
him, till persecutors themselves felt the fascina¬ 
tion, and Fenwick glebe was built over with 
the houses of people, who counted it happiness 
to be near him : so modest, that the only little 
book* he ever published was printed, because 
he could not help it; and yet of that little 
book, Dr. Owen said, “ There is more divinity 
in it than in all my folios John Living¬ 
stone, a man full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost, of whose ministry we have this record ; 
that in two parishes, 1500 souls were confirmed 
or converted under it: Thomas Boston, 
whose peaceful walk with God is not yet for¬ 
gotten in Ettrick Forest; and whose writings, 
originally designed for his own shepherds, are 
now prized in all the churches, and most prized 
by those Christians who have farthest grown 
in grace: and to name no more, John Mac- 
laurin, whose Sermon “ On glorying in the 
Cross,” is of all printed Sermons, the one 
which God has honoured the most, and whose 

* The Christian’s Great Interest. 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


47 


appropriate monument may still be found in 
the city of his sojourn—in prayer-meetings 
which he originated there a hundred years 
ago. 

Y. But above all, we are thankful for the 
many tokens of his love with which the Lord 
has blessed the Church of Scotland. He has 
repeatedly poured out His Spirit upon the 
assemblies of her ministers and elders, so that 
a zeal for personal and family amendment as 
well as for ecclesiastical and national reform¬ 
ation, was kindled. He has sent to that 
church frequent times of refreshing, so that 
once and again, the spectacle has been beheld 
of whole parishes awake to eternal realities, 
and entire congregations exclaimed, “ What 
shall we do to be saved ?” In the days when 
the doctrines of our church are most power¬ 
fully preached, and the ordinances of our* 
church most faithfully enforced, the effect was 
such, that had it but continued, one region of 
the world should have enjoyed something of 
millennial holiness and blessedness long ago. 
Hear the testimony of one, Avho, with his own 
eyes beheld it. “ At the king’s return every 
parish had a minister, every village had a 
school, every family almost had a Bible ; yea, 
in most of the country all the children of age 
could read the Scriptures, and were provided 
with Bibles, either by their parents or their 


48 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


ministers. Every minister was a very full pro¬ 
fessor of the reformed religion, according to the 
larger Confession of Faith framed at West¬ 
minster, by the divines of both nations. None 
of them might be scandalous in their conver¬ 
sation, or negligent in their office, so long as a 
presbytery stood ; and among them were many 
holy in conversation and eminent in gifts ; the 
dispensation of the ministry being fallen from 
the noise of waters, and the sound of trumpets 
to the melody of harpers, which is, alas ! the 
last mess in the banquet; nor did a minister 
satisfy himself except his ministry had the seal 
of divine approbation, as might witness him 
to be really sent from God. Indeed, in many 
places the Spirit seemed to be poured out with 
the word, both by the multitude of sincere con¬ 
verts, and also by the common work of reform- 
• ation upon many who never came the length 
of a communion. There were no fewer than 
sixty aged people, men and women, who went 
to school, that even then they might be able to 
read the Scriptures with their own eyes. I 
have lived many years in a parish where I 
never heard an oath, and you might have rode 
many miles before you heard any. Also, you 
could not for a great part of the country have 
lodged in a family where the Lord was not 
worshipped by reading, singing, and public 
prayer. No body complained more of our 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


49 


church government than our taverners, whose 
ordinary lamentation was, 1 their trade was 
broke, people were become so sober.’ ”* And 
though days of outward trial have come upon 
her, the Lord has begun to bless our church 
again. If during these years we have seen much 
evil, we have also seen much good. The Lord 
has added to this church many such as shall be 
saved. He has made many of her members less 
worldly minded, and has put unwonted power 
into the ministrations of her faithful pastors. 
Evil men may be waxing worse and worse ; but 
some happy spots are now clothed in a new 
beauty of holiness, and God’s people are keep¬ 
ing nearer to himself, and praying more ear¬ 
nestly, “ Thy kingdom come.” They have sent 
after Israel, and have doubled their Mission¬ 
aries to the Gentiles. These years of trial 
have been years of revival. The Lord hath 
done great things for us, and let us magnify 
his name. 


* Kirkton’s History of the Church of Scotland, 4to. pp. 
G4, 65.—“ Oh the children of my people! Who shall restore 
your lost honour Who shall revive the work of God in the 
midst of you! Ye were a people. Ye wete a nation of 
families , and every head of a family as a king and a priest 
in his house, which was a house of God, and a gate of hea¬ 
ven. Your peasantry were as the sons of kings in their 
gravity and wisdom. They were men who could hold com¬ 
munion with the King of Heaven.”— Rev. E. Irving. 


50 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


And now, dear brethren, having told you 
what the church of your fathers is, and what 
God has done for it,'we should like that you 
yourselves would draw the inference. We will 
not say that you have no reason to be ashamed 
of your church—as little would we say that 
you should be proud of it. But if you are 
patriotic Scotchmen, you should be thankful 
for the benefits which that church has conferred 
on your country; and if you be true-hearted 
Christians, you should be thankful for the 
grace which the Lord has ‘bestowed upon that 
church. And whichever you be, you should 
express your sense of obligation in the most 
obvious and effectual way, by countenancing 
that church, joining her communion, and wait¬ 
ing on her ordinances. 

This Address may be read by some who 
have not forsaken the house of God, though 
they have left the church of their fathers. If 
you have left us, because, after a prayerful ex¬ 
amination of the word of God, you find that 
Presbyterian worship or government is unscrip- 
tural, or because, in none of our churches could 
you hear the truth as it is in Jesus, it would 
be wrong or needless to urge you to return— 
though even in that case we might invite you 
to re-consider. But perhaps local convenience 
or considerations of expediency, or accidental 
and temporary causes originated your with- 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


51 


drawment. If so, it is so far well; for there 
is no conscientious scruple to bar your return, 
and perhaps, were you weighing the matter 
seriously, there might be reasons sufficient to 
bring you back. We wish no injury to any 
Christian body whose fellowship you may 
have joined. But we feel that we do them no 
wrong, when we address ourselves to you. 
For has not the Church of Scotland a first 
claim on you ? Was it not your early bene¬ 
factor ? Has it not at least been the benefac¬ 
tor of thousands of your countrymen at home, 
and amongst the rest, of kindred of your own ? 
And if justice were done to it, might it not be 
the benefactor of thousands of your country¬ 
men here ? But if you forsake its communion 
and its sanctuaries, do you not inflict on it a 
practical injury; and so far lessen its power to 
benefit your brethren? Is it not virtually, 
though unintentionally, saying, that you know 
of nothing in the past history or existing con¬ 
stitution of that church which should induce 
you to acknowledge it in your present place of 
sojourn ? Were you not safe in the Church 
of Scotland ? Were you and your children 
not secure of remaining doctrinally sound 
within its pale ? Have you found a church 
with purer standards, or more reformed, or a 
ministry more evangelical ? Have you found 
a church where greater provision is made for 


52 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


the kind and Christian intercourse of pastor and 
people, or one which in its office-bearers secures 
to its members more affectionate council in per¬ 
plexity, or more sympathy in seasons of afflic¬ 
tion and sorrow ? If you Used to speak of the 
Church of Scotland as “ the fairest of all the 
daughters of the reformation,” was there no 
risk in deserting such a church in days so 
perilous 7 And would it not be worth while 
adhering to such a church, for the sake of our 
common Christianity, even at some personal 
inconvenience, and with some occasional self- 
denial 7 

This Address may fall into the hands of 
Scotchmen who have ceased to frequent the 
assemblies of God’s people altogether. Was it 
not once better with you than now 7 In for¬ 
saking God, do you not find that he has for¬ 
saken you ? In forsaking his people, have 
you not forsaken your own mercies ? In in¬ 
viting you to join our company, we feel none 
of that delicacy which we can scarcely help 
feeling in addressing countrymen of other 
communions. We feel all the satisfaction of 
issuing an invitation, with which if you com¬ 
ply, you will be the first to thank us, and for 
issuing which nobody of our fellow-christians 
can blame us. We feel a special anxiety on 
your account; for your fellow-countrymen in 
other communions may be following Christ, 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


53 


though they follow not with us. But whilst 
you habitually forsake the place which He 
chiefly loves, it is too evident that you are still 
strangers to himself. And as the short time 
allotted you for becoming acquainted with 
him is dwindling rapidly away, each new Sab¬ 
bath that you spend in idleness or dissipation, 
is full of jeopardy, for it may be your last; just 
as the first sermon you hear is full of moment, 
for in it you may find your salvation. If yours 
be the dreary home which knows no Sabbath, 
and consequently a home from which joy has 
withered away; the day that restores you and 
yours to the house of God in company, may 
be the most eventful in your history. From 
that time forward God may begin to bless you. 
The benign influence of a hallowed rest will 
diffuse itself along the week, will sweeten the 
atmosphere of your home, and tell its tale of 
blessing in domestic harmony and growing in¬ 
door comfort. It will send you with elastic 
step, and a clear calm head, with a peaceful 
conscience and unruffled temper, to your Mon¬ 
day morning’s employ. It will keep a sharp 
thorn out of your dying pillow ; and if it lead 
you to the tomb of a risen Saviour, will more 
than reconcile you to your own. 

This Address may fall into the hands of one 
who once wore a blue bonnet himself, and 
travelled a Sabbath-day’s journey of two or 
5 * 


54 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


three miles to the house of God, and did not 
deem the journey long. It may fall into the 
hands of one, whose parents passed into the 
skies from a country manse, or farm-steading, 
or cottage by a burn side in Scotland ; and 
who now sleep beneath the shadow of that 
“pleasant tabernacle,” which never missed 
their living presence. It may be read by one, 
from whose orphan eyes the first tears were 
dried by the man of God, who prayed the last 
prayer in which his dying father joined. It 
may be read by one, who in days now distant 
was spectator of a communion Sabbath in his 
native land : and who, as he listened to the 
exhortations of a pastor, whose soul rode aloft 
on fiery wheels like the chariot of Amminadib, 
who as he saw the solemn company around 
the table pass along the tokens of a dying 
Saviour’s love, or arise to “ go in peace,” when 
the service ended,—felt for the first time, 
“Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto 
thee, O people saved by the Lord ?”—and who 
may never have felt the same feeling since. 
This Address may be read by some who have 
never been so happy since, and who have 
never prospered since they forgot the Sabbaths 
and the sanctuaries of their father-land. It 
may be read by others, who have prospered 
greatly in the world, and who, under God, 
owe that prosperity to the better education 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


55 


which they received in the parish schools of 
Scotland^ to the lessons of industry, and fru¬ 
gality, and self-denial, which they learned 
from its wise and godly parentage; and, per¬ 
haps, to the fear of God and hatred of evil, 
which they were taught in its churches and 
Sabbath schools ; and possibly, because there 
they were led to choose first the kingdom 
of heaven and its righteousness, and have 
found the other things since added. Be the 
reader who he may, if he was born beyond 
the Tweed, or baptized in the Church of Scot¬ 
land, and has any reason for saying, “ Peace 
be within thee,” he is himself invited to come 
in. Amongst us you will at least find the 
primitive worship of your ancestral church. 
You will sing the Scottish psalms to the tunes 
which the Scottish martyrs sang. You will 
hear the reformation doctrines as Knox and 
Melville taught them, and as you yourselves 
may have read them in Boston, in Willison, 
and the Erskines. And if you come in the 
spirit of prayer, you may find our church 
a Bethel; you may be enabled to pour out 
your hearts before God, and whilst you are 
yet speaking, He may answer ; and matters 
which, at present, are too hard for you, may 
be made plain when you go into the sanctu¬ 
ary ; and as there are amongst us some of the 
Saviour’s disciples, who desire above all things 


56 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


His presence in these ordinances, and as He is 
wont to go where these are gathered, who can 
tell but that in His visits to them, He may 
reveal himself to you, and then your hearts 
will rejoice with a joy which no man taketh 
from you. 

In common with the other members of the 
London Presbytery, having much at heart the 
welfare of our brethren scattered through this 
labyrinthine city; we have resolved to send 
forth this circular to our countrymen in the 
neighbourhood, apprising them of the existence 
of a Presbyterian Church in Regent Square, 
and inviting them to share in its Sabbath and 
week-day services. We hope soon to announce 
the existence of a daily school, conducted on 
the Scottish sessional system. And in that 
event you will be enabled to secure for your 
children here, the same intellectual, moral, and 
religious training, which at the distance of 
many years, and some hundred miles, you en¬ 
joyed yourselves. Is it too much to hope—it is 
surely not too much to desire—that our na¬ 
tional church may, like Israel’s ark, be a 
blessing wheresoever it goes ? Is there nothing 
in presbyterianism, rightly exemplified, from 
which other churches might learn a lesson, 
useful to themselves and to the cause of 
Christ ? Is there nothing in our educational 
processes, the Bible lessons and catechetic 


REMEMBERING ZION. 


57 


training, from which, were a living specimen 
before their eyes, the intelligent patrons and 
conductors of metropolitan schools might 
gather hints, which, in time, would improve 
their own? Were it not a blessed thing to see 
London keeping Sabbath, as Edinburgh, and 
Glasgow, and Dundee kept it fifty years ago ? 
Broken, scattered, and disunited, we have 
hitherto accomplished little good. Knit to¬ 
gether, heart and soul, we might accomplish 
much. In the congregation where God in his 
providence has planted us, He has awakened 
much desire for the spiritual welfare of our 
Scottish countrymen; and as He has given 
us one heart and one mind regarding this 
matter, so we believe he designs to answer the 
prayer in this behalf, “ Come with us, and we 
will do you good.” Or rather, we should say, 
« Come with us, and we will do one another 
good,” for so bountiful is the God of grace, that 
when many go to seek one blessing, the more 
applicants there are, the larger is the share of 
each. 


National Scotch Church , Regent Square , 
February 10th, 1842. 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


It has been remarked with truth, that a re¬ 
cent ruin is never romantic. The fresh marks 
of the pick-axe and crow-bar speak of violence 
in a language too distinct to be pleasing; and 
• it is not till time has passed his softening hand 
over the rough work of the spoiler, that you 
can look at it with an interest which includes 
no pain. Fresh-fallen plaster and shattered 
doors and timbers still smoking are not poeti¬ 
cal; and it is not till the grey lichen has 
weathered over the chipped and fractured stones, 
and the wallflower is clinging high on the tower, 
and the cold arum and adder’s tongue are grow¬ 
ing in the sunless recesses, that the ruined con¬ 
vent or castle grows picturesque—so picturesque 
in the disguise of mysterious time, that you 
tread with pensive step and swelling heart on 
ruins which when recent would only have been 
counted rubbish. We fear, that the tale we 



FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


59 


are about to tell labours under this disadvan¬ 
tage. It is recent; for the catastrophe occurred 
last month. And it is too true; for in little 
more than a day’s journey the reader may see 
for himself all its sad details of desolate sanctu¬ 
aries and forsaken homes and weeping families. 
But it is co-temporary history. It is a tale of 
the times, and the russet light of antiquity is 
not fading over it. And, therefore, some who 
garnish the sepulchres of the Covenanters and 
build the tombs of the Puritans may grudge a 
stone to this modern cairn. But when we re¬ 
flect a little longer and remember that it is not 
so much a tale of ruin as of restoration—when 
we consider that this disruption of the northern 
Establishment is the resuscitation of the Na¬ 
tional Church, the revival of the Kirk in the 
energy of its first reformation, in the purity of 
its second reformation, and in the catholicity 
of this, its third, reformation, we almost forget 
the privations with which it has been pur¬ 
chased, and rejoice that it is such a modem 
story. There are readers who value truth so 
much as to hail a living testimony; and who 
can understand how the same faith which car¬ 
ried Abraham out of Ur, and Moses out of 
Egypt, may still enable men, at the call of 
God, to “go out” from endeared associations 
and friendships, even when they know not 
whither, and “refuse” distinctions and enjoy- 


60 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


ments which sense most values. To such 
readers we inscribe these lines. 

It was in last November, that the capital of 
Scotland witnessed such a gathering of its 
clergy as had not met since the time two hun¬ 
dred years ago when the National Covenant 
was framed. Every one felt that it was a so¬ 
lemn emergency which brought together, in 
the dead season of the year from distant glens 
and storm-girdled islands, such a company of 
Scotland’s most devoted ministers. It was a 
solemn emergency. They met to consider 
whether they could conscientiously remain the 
ministers of the Scotch Establishment any 
longer; and all felt, that in the decision to 
which they came, not so much the comfort of 
many hundred households as the welfare of the 
national Christianity was involved. It may be 
right to mention in a few short sentences what 
had brought it to this conjuncture. 

The Church of Scotland was founded on the 
principle, that not only is the Bible the only 
rule of faith, but the only statute-book by which 
the Lord Jesus would have his Church on earth 
be governed. It assumed that Christ himself 
has given certain office-bearers for the admin 
istration of his Church, and that he has given 
to these office-bearers their Directory, their only 
Book of Canons in the written Word. And it 
farther assumed, that in the administration of 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


61 


the Church, civil rulers and secular magistrates 
ought not to interfere with the servants of 
Christ, but should leave it to them to rule 
Christ’s house—his Church on earth, accord¬ 
ing to Christ’s own laws. And it still farther 
assumed that in the event of the Church enter¬ 
ing into any connexion with the State—ac¬ 
cepting an endowment for instance—the 
Church was not at liberty to surrender any 
spiritual privileges as the price of protection, or 
pecuniary support. This was the theory. 
And at the Revolution, this theory became the 
statute-law of Scotland; and at the Union, it 
was stipulated that this should abide the stat¬ 
ute-law of Scotland for ever. 

Well, nine years ago, the General Assembly, 
whose counsels, in consequence of the wide 
revival of Evangelical religion, had become 
more Scriptural, restored to the communicants 
in the different parishes of Scotland a privilege 
which they enjoyed up to the Union, and for 
some time afterward, the right of being con¬ 
sulted in the appointment of their ministers. 
In the event of a majority declaring that the 
individual offered to their acceptance was one 
by whose ministrations they could not profit, 
the Assembly ordained that the vetoed candi¬ 
date should not be inducted, but that the pa¬ 
tron of the parish should be requested to give 


62 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


the people the offer of another minister.* In 
the progress of certain civil suits which arose 
out of this ecclesiastical law, it was not only 
declared by the secular courts, that the Gene¬ 
ral Assembly did not possess the statutory power 
to confer this privilege on the people of her 
communion, but the civil courts went on to 
claim powers over the Church courts, at which 
many stood aghast. For instance, the Court 
of Session drew a line round certain districts 
of country, and said to the ministers of the Es¬ 
tablishment, “We prohibit you from preaching 
here under pain of imprisonment.” It took its 
stand at the door of the Church Courts and 
prohibited certain members from taking their 
places in Presbyteries and Synods. It imposed 
a crushing fine on a Presbytery for refusing to 
ordain a man to the ministry of a parish where, 
out of 3,000 inhabitants, all, save two, depre¬ 
cated his admission. And, not content with 
inflicting pains and penalties on Presbyteries, 
it had at last descended to the discipline of se¬ 
parate congregations, and tampered with the 
sacredness of the communion-table. The 
Church began to see too plainly that not a ves¬ 
tige of separate jurisdiction was left to her, and 

* The Crown-lawyers of the day assured the General As¬ 
sembly that the passing of such a law was within their com¬ 
petency. In this opinion five of the thirteen Scottish judges 
afterwards concurred. 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 63 

that in endeavouring to restore the liberties of 
her people she had lost her own. 

It was in consequence of the intolerable pres¬ 
sure of these encroachments, and the sanction 
given to them in the Court of highest appeal, 
that the Convocation of Ministers assembled 
last November. They met in a place of wor¬ 
ship from which the public was excluded, that 
no one might be restrained from speaking freely 
among his brethren by the restraint of a stran¬ 
ger-audience, and that no measure might be 
precipitated by the urgency of popular impulse. 
Every step was taken with caution, deliberation, 
and much prayer; and it was very affecting in 
the solemnity of devotion, and in the freedom 
of these brotherly communings, to find thd 
same truths which had evaporated into thin 
abstractions in the language of controversy, re¬ 
turning in living realities ; and to see that it 
was neither Church-power nor popular rights 
so much as the prerogatives of a much-loved 
Saviour, for which they had been contending. 
Successive days of consultation ended in a last 
appeal to the legislature of the country. It was 
represented that the recent encroachments of 
the civil courts within the spiritual province 
were inconsistent with the liberty wherewith 
Christ had made his people and their pastors 
free. It was alleged that by subverting eccle¬ 
siastical discipline they would eventually de- 


64 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


stroy the Established Church. It was urged 
that international faith demanded a remedy; 
for all these infringements on the Church’s 
liberty were contrary to the stipulations of the 
Union Treaty. And, in conclusion, it was in¬ 
timated, that should this final appeal be met by 
a refusal—rather than consent to disregard the 
voice of a Christian congregation imploring 
protection for themselves and their children 
against the intrusion of an obnoxious presentee 
—rather than purchase the benefits of an en¬ 
dowment by the omission of any Christian duty, 
the surrender of any spiritual privilege, they 
would sacrifice their earthly all, and seek for 
themselves and their people on the broad ground 
6f British toleration that liberty which they 
could not find within the pale of the Established 
Church. 4 

This document, with the signatures of more 
than 400 ministers, was laid before Parliament 
last spring. Everything that patriotism and 
principle could do was done to obtain a candid 
consideration for the Church’s claim of right. 
But though the constitutional grounds on which 
that claim was founded were never touched, in 
the emphatic language of a Minister of State, 
it was thought necessary to put an “extin¬ 
guisher” for ever on such pretensions; and con¬ 
sequently, although the Constitution of the 
kingdom demanded it, and the majority of 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


65 


Scotch Members supported it, that claim was 
by a vote of Parliament rejected. 

As soon as the final decision of the Legisla¬ 
ture was known, it was the hope of many that 
the General Assembly at its first Meeting would 
tender a formal resignation of its rights and 
privileges as an Established Church into the 
hands of Government. To prevent this no 
pains were spared. Under various pretexts 
presbyteries were interdicted from meeting to 
elect Commissioners, or their representatives 
when chosen were discharged under civil pains 
and penalties from claiming their seat in the 
Supreme Judicatory. Whilst, intimidated by 
the prospect of worldly loss, a few who had once 
espoused the non-Erastian cause turned back 
in the day of battle. It, therefore, became re¬ 
quisite to adopt another course, and sever all 
connexion with a Church which, in such cir¬ 
cumstances, would not sever its connexion with 
the State. 

Edinburgh is one of those cities which seem 
designed as the arena of mighty incidents. 
Commanding that wide prospect of fertile fields, 
and of the far-stretching ocean, which is itself 
enlarging to the soul; overhung by tall piles 
of ancient masonry, and hoary battlements, 
which only speak of other years; looking up 
to everlasting mountains which carry the 
thoughts aloft or far on into the future; and 


66 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


with the solemn shadows of the ancient capital 
diffusing a sedateness over the elegance of the 
modern town, Edinburgh is essentially an his¬ 
toric city—a city familiar with great events, 
and a proper place for their transaction. On 
the morning of the ISth May it had the look 
as if such an event were coming. People were 
early astir. When the hours of business came, 
men either forbore their wonted occupations, or 
plied them in a way which showed they had 
as lief forbear. Holyrood was one point of 
attraction, for the yearly gleam of royalty was 
flickering about its old grim turrets and through 
its gaunt open gateway. The scarlet yeomen 
with their glancing halberts, and the horsemen 
curvetting in the court of the resounding “ Sanc¬ 
tuary,” announced that the representative of 
majesty was within ; and a streaip of very va¬ 
rious equipages was conveying down the Ca- 
nongate professors from the colleg'e, and red- 
gowned magistrates from the council-chamber, 
lawyers from the Parliament-house, and lairds 
from all the Lothians, besides a long pedestrian 
procession of doctors, and ministers, and burgh- 
elders, all resorting to the palace to pay their 
homage to His Grace the Queen’s Commis¬ 
sioner. From Holyrood they marched to the 
High Church. This venerable fabric seemed 
also to renew the days of old. Beneath that 
canopy where James, of pedantic memory, used 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


67 


to sit, and sometimes dispute with John Durie 
and Patrick Simpson, sate the representative 
of royalty, and, all around, the gallery was 
garnished with the parti-coloured pomp of civic 
functionaries, whilst the area was filled with that 
grave And learned auditory which no other oc¬ 
casion could supply. The discourse,* “ Let 
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind,” 
was a production which, for wise and weighty 
casuistry, for keen analysis of motive, and fine 
discrimination of truth, and for felicity of his¬ 
toric illustration, would have been a treat to 
such a congregation at a less eventful season. 
With the solemn consciousness that in the 
u full persuasion” of their own minds they had 
decided in another hour to take a step in which 
character and worldly comfort and ministerial 
usefulness were all involved, each sentence 
came with a sanction which such sermons 
seldom carry! When the service was closing, 
the audience began to disperse with a precipi¬ 
tation which contrasted strangely with the 
fixed earnestness of their previous attention ; 
for the place appointed for the meeting of as¬ 
sembly lay at some distance, and the members 
were anxious to secure their seats, and on-look¬ 
ers were anxious to get near the spot. 

In the Assembly-hall many of the gallery- 

* Preached by the late Moderator, the Rev. Dr. Welsh. It 
has since been published. 


68 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 

spectators had sate nine weary hours, when at 
last the rapid entrance of members by either 
door announced that the service in St. Giles’s 
was over, and languid countenances were again 
lighted up with expectation. It did not look 
like the opening of a General Assembly. There 
was not the usual vivacity of recognition, and 
that bustling to and fro and ferment of joyous 
voices which, on such occasions, keep the floor 
all astir and the audience all alive. Either 
side was serious. The one party had that awe 
upon their spirits which men feel when doing 
a great work. Of the other party, some had 
that cloud upon their consciences which men 
feel when they are doing a wrong work—when 
they see others doing what but for want of 
faith themselves should have been doing ; and 
others more honest, consistent Erastians of the 
old school,—had something of a funereal feel¬ 
ing, sadness in parting with opponents whom 
they respected, and a foreboding impression 
that when these were gone away, it would 
scarcely be worth while remaining. 

At last the jingle of horse-gear, and the mea¬ 
sured prance on the pavement, with the full 
near swell of the trumpet, seemed to say in 
the words of the national melody, “ Now’s the 
day, and now’s the hour.” The martial music 
ceased, and the Assembly rose, for Her Majesty’s 
Commissioner had entered. The Moderator 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


69 


engaged in prayer, and as soon as that prayer 
was ended, and the members had resumed their 
seats, amidst the breathless silence which pre¬ 
vailed he went on to say, “ According to the 
usual form of procedure, this is the time for 
making up the roll; but in consequence of 
certain proceedings affecting our rights and 
privileges,—proceedings which have been sanc¬ 
tioned by Her Majesty’s Government and by 
the Legislature of the country, and more espe¬ 
cially in respect that there has been an in¬ 
fringement on the liberties of our Constitution, 
so that we could not now constitute this Court 
without a violation of the terms of the union 
between Church and State in this land, as now 
authoritatively declared, I must protest against 
our proceeding further. The reasons that have 
led me to this conclusion, are fully set forth in 
the document which I hold in my hand, and 
which, with permission of the House, I shall 
now proceed to read.” He then read the pro¬ 
test, and having laid it on the table, bowed 
towards the throne, and withdrew. Man by 
man, and row by row, all to the left of the 
chair, arose and followed. An irrepressible 
shout of gratulation from the multitude in the 
street announced that the vanguard was fairly 
“ without the camp and orderly and slowly 
retiring, in a few short minutes all were gone. 
Looking at the long ranges of vacant forms 


70 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 

from which the pride of Scottish genius, and 
the flower of Scottish piety had disappeared, 
there were few spectators who did not feel “ The 
^lory is departed.” 

* It was a striking sight to see the dark line 
for half a mile together, moving down the steep 
declivity which leads to the valley of Leith- 
Water. In the distance stood, bright in its 
polished freshness, the new Assembly Hall, on 
which they had turned their backs for ever. 
On either side was the crowd of lookers-on— 
thronging windows and balconies, and outside 
stairs; some cheering, and others lifting their 
hats in silent reverence, some weeping, many 
wondering, and a few endeavouring to smile. 
And in the middle of the street, held on the 
long procession, which included Welsh and 
Chalmers, Gordon, and Buchanan, Keith, and 
Macfarlan, Alexander Stewart, and John Mac¬ 
donald, Cunningham, and Candlish, everything 
of which a Scotchman thinks when he thinks 
of the Church of Scotland. 

Humble in its original destination, and pre¬ 
pared in haste, but of vast dimensions, and 
crowded with an eager auditory, their new 
place of meeting was emblematic of that new 
dispensation in the history of the Church of 
Scotland which had now begun. The em¬ 
blems of Royal patronage were absent. There 
was neither canopy nor throne. No civic pomp 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


71 


was seen. Magistrates had laid aside their 
robes of office, and none of Scotland’s nobles 
had come. But the heart of Scotland was 
there, and it was soon borne in on every mind 
that a greater than Solomon was there. None 
who heard them can ever forget the fullness 
and world-forgetting rapture, the inspiration of 
the opening prayers; and when that mighty 
multitude stood up to sing,* it seemed as if the 
swell of vehement melody would lift the roof 
from off the walls. And when at last the ad¬ 
journment for the day took place, and in the 
brightness of a lovely evening the different 
groups went home, all felt as if returning from 
a pentecostal meeting. A common salutation 
was, “We have seen strange things to-day.” 
Some, contrasting the harmony and happiness 
of the Free-Assembly with the strife and debate 
of other days, could not help exclaiming, “ Be¬ 
hold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren 
to dwell together in unity!” Many remem¬ 
bered the text of Dr. Chalmers’ sermon six 
months before in opening the Convocation, 
“ Unto the upright light shall arise in the dark¬ 
ness.” And at the family worship of those 
memorable evenings such psalms as the 124th 
and 126th were often sung, and were felt to be 
tc new songs.” 

* Psalm xliii. 3—5.—O send thy light forth and thy 
truth, &c. 


72 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 

It would be pleasant to dwell upon many of 
the features of the Free-Church Assemblies; 
especially on those deputations and messages 
of sympathy and congratulation which they 
received from so many Churches, and on those 
tributes of approbation and encouragement 
which coming in from so many quarters made 
them recognise the good hand of the Lord 
upon them. But we have only room to state, 
that Tuesday, the 23d of May, was, after spe¬ 
cial devotional exercises, employed in subscrib¬ 
ing the “ Act of Separation and Deed of 
Demission, by which 470 Ministers did u Sep¬ 
arate FROM AND ABANDON THE PRESENT 

subsisting Ecclesiastical Establish¬ 
ment in Scotland, and renounce all 

RIGHTS OR EMOLUMENTS PERTAINING TO 
THEM by virtue thereof.” 

Though subscribed with the utmost calm¬ 
ness and alacrity, it would not be easy to esti¬ 
mate the sacrifice which that Deed of Demission 
implied. It is something to renounce the dig¬ 
nity of an established Church, and the com¬ 
forts of an endowed one. These Ministers did 
both, and some will best understand the sacri¬ 
fice when told, that the gift thus laid on the 
altar is a revenue of more than a Hundred 
Thousand Pounds a-year. But this is a 
very gross and vulgar way of stating it. For 
■who will estimate in pounds and pence the 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


73 


home-ties which have since been broken? 
Who will put a price upon those hallowed re¬ 
collections which cluster round every manse 
and church—all the more tender and manifold 
in proportion as a man of God was the presi¬ 
ding spirit there—round the manse where infan¬ 
cy was cradled and childhood made merry, and 
opening youth first learned to tread with thought¬ 
ful and meditative step—the country manse 
on whose roof-tree rested the blessing of many 
a passer-by, and from whose quiet chambers 
ascended, heard by God alone, the prayer of 
the pious wayfarer turned aside to tarry for a 
night, and through whose study-windows 
streamed at winter’s early morn the radiance 
of his lamp who, like his Master, had risen up 
a great while before the dawn, to meditate and 
pray ? What money will buy back the joy of 
those sanctuaries, whose Sabbath-memories are 
now strangely mingled with the thought of 
their new occupants—the sanctuary, where, 
one by one, the Elkanahs and Hannahs of the 
village presented each loan from the Lord and 
dedicated the infant Samuel to him who an¬ 
swers prayer—the parish church where family 
by family sat the rural population, the happy 
matron at the head, and the toil-worn hardy 
father at the foot of their allotted pew, and the 
olive plants between—the church at whose 
window waved, ampler each opening spring, 


74 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


the branches whose pleasant shadow spake of 
better trees and that higher house of God 
where these be planted, and round whose walls 
are sprinkled the grassy mounds where the fa¬ 
thers sleep, but where many of the children 
now must not sleep—the church which has the 
consecration which the Angel of the covenant 
alone can give—traditions of worthies who 
preached and wrestled there—recollections of 
Peniel meetings, new-year sermons, and com¬ 
munion seasons when God was in the place— 
birth-place associations of men who believe that 
it was there that they were born again ? Many 
a noble manly heart was like to burst that re¬ 
cent Sabbath, when minister and people took 
their last look of the beautiful house where 
they and their fathers had worshipped, and 
gathering up their psalm-books and Bibles 
which had lain on the book-board so long, 
they left the vacant pulpit, and the empty 
pews, “ a place in which to bury strangers.” 

But with all its griefs and privations—though 
in some parishes arbitrary land-owners have 
refused the humblest hut to the “outed” min¬ 
isters, and have prohibited their tenantry from 
affording them an asylum; and though many 
congregations have no other prospect than that 
of worshipping, like their covenanting ances¬ 
tors, in the open air—still the sacrifice has been 
amply repaid in blessings of a nobler kind. 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 75 

1. It is a solemn testimony for truth. It is 
something to have impressed on the minds of 
men more deeply the truths, that God alone 
is Lord of the conscience , and Christ alone 
Head of the Church ; and that the relation 
between a pastor of a Christian Congrega¬ 
tion is something too sacred to be formed 
without the consent of either party. 

2. It may remind the world that there is yet 
“ faith in the earth.” It is long since by faith 
Abram left Ur, since Moses forsook Egypt. It 
is long since the eleventh chapter to the He¬ 
brews was written. It is even long since “ by 
faith” the Puritans esteemed the reproach of 
Christ greater riches than the treasures in 
Egypt,” and since the Covenanters “ endured, 
as seeing him who is invisible.” 4 So incredu¬ 
lous had the world become, so ignorant of the 
existence of any heaven-sustained principle like 
faith, that up to the last morning, worldly men 
were betting that not fifty would secede; and, 
doubtless, judging by themselves, even minis¬ 
ters of the Gospel assured the world, that their 
solemn protestations notwithstanding, not a 
hundred would fulfil their pledge. It is well 
that worldly men and ministers should learn 
that a class of men exists whose “Yea,” is 
“ Yea.” 

3. It has secured great advantages for the 
evangelization of Scotland. The Free Church 


76 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 

has the best of the Ministers, and the mass of 
the people. It has also the goodwill of the 
other Evangelical communions, and in co-ope¬ 
ration with them, the field of Scotland is now 
before it. Clerical etiquette, and ecclesiastical 
trammels, and civil interdicts, will not now re¬ 
strain its Ministers. Broad Scotland is their 
parish, and the last verses of Matthew’s Gospel 
their commission; and we trust that many 
people who have long sat in darkness will now 
see a great light. 

4. It has elicited to a wonderful extent the 
sympathy and fraternal regard of Christian 
men, and Christian Churches. The kindness 
and affectionate fellow-feeling of the people of 
God at home and abroad, have been abun¬ 
dantly exhibited; and the Free Church Minis¬ 
ters and people have rejoiced because of the 
consolation. One expression of this kindness 
has been of a peculiarly seasonable and affect¬ 
ing nature. Many Dissenting congregations 
in Scotland, Independents, Seceding, Wesleyan, 
have lent their respective places of worship, 
and even changed their customary time of 
meeting for the accommodation of their Free 
Church friends. 

5. It has opened a great deep of liberality 
among the Christian people of Scotland. The 
Free Church is emphatically the Church of 
the Christian People. Comparatively few 


FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 


77 


of the noble and wealthy adhere to it; and the 
exertions which its members have made are 
scarcely surpassed by the self-surrender of its 
Ministers. One eminent legal practitioner has 
devoted a fifth of his income for life to the 
cause. We lately heard of a pious man in 
humble life, who, by his own hard labour, had 
amassed a considerable sum, and presented 
nearly the whole of it, 500/., to the Free Church 
Funds. There was a poor woman in a parish 
where most of the land belonged to a hostile 
proprietor; and in his zeal to prevent the ad¬ 
herents of the Free Church from rearing a 
place of worship, this proprietor endeavoured to 
buy up all the smaller properties. This poor 
woman’s only support was derived from a small 
parcel of ground, little worth, but for which the 
rich man in his eagerness offered an enormous 
price. The poor woman withstood the temp¬ 
tation, though such a fortune had never been 
within her reach before. She said, u From my 
Maker I got it, and to my Maker I give it 
back.” And on the spot of ground thus given, 
a Free Church will now be built. And just as 
many Ministers are content to lodge in mean 
abodes, and even to send their families to dis¬ 
tant places, that they may not be compelled to 
quit the scene of their wonted labours; so 
many of their people in their turn have made 
corresponding sacrifices, have abridged their 


78 FAREWELL TO EGYPT. 

comforts, changed their dwellings, and sold 
their possessions, that they may aid in this 
blessed work. Never did the people of Scot¬ 
land offer to any cause so willingly. 

So abundant have the people’s contributions 
been, that some may imagine no foreign aid is 
needed. It will be enough in a single sentence 
to say, that nothing can be more remote from 
the fact, than such a supposition. To build 
five or six hundred churches in the humblest 
style requires a large immediate outlay. Scot¬ 
land is a country comparatively poor; “not 
many rich, not many noble,” are yet numbered 
among the adherents of the protesting Church. 
The people have done enough to show their 
ardent zeal, and enough to give them a claim 
on the sympathy and energetic support of 
Christian men elsewhere. But in the em¬ 
phatic words of a communication last week re¬ 
ceived from Edinburgh, “ unless they are most 
liberally, munificently , and promptly assisted, 
the cause will deeply suffer, and many of our 
Ministers and people will be exposed to the 
most cruel hardship.” 

Jane 26, 1843. 


THE 


CHURCH IN THE HOUSE. 


In Greenland, when a stranger knocks at 
the door, he asks, “ Is God in this house ?” 
And if they answer, “ Yes,” he enters. Reader, 
this little messenger knocks at your door with 
the Greenland salutation. Is God in this 
House ? Were you like Abraham, entertain¬ 
ing an angel unawares, what would be the re¬ 
port he would take back to heaven ? Would 
he find you commanding your children and 
your household, and teaching them the way 
of the Lord ? Would he find an altar in your 
dwelling ? Do you worship God with your 
children ? Is there a Church in your house ? 

If not, then God is not in your house. A 
prayerless family is a godless family. It is 
a family on which Jehovah frowns. He will 
pour out his fury upon it some day. “ O Lord, 
pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know 



80 


THE CHURCH 


thee not, and upon the families that call not 
on thy name.”* A prayerless family and a 
heathen family are here accounted the same. 

I cannot mention all the reasons in favour 
of family worship; but if you ponder them, the 
four following should suffice 

1. The godly householders mentioned in 
Scripture practised it. Would you desire to be 
like Abraham, the friend of God ? Wherever 
he pitched his tent, he budded an altar, and 
called on the name of the Lord ;t and Jehovah 
declared concerning him, “ I know Abraham, 
that he will command his children and his 
household after him, and they will keep the 
way of the Lord.”t Would you like to re¬ 
semble Job, “ the perfect and upright man, one 
that feared God and eschewed evil ?” He used 
to bring his children together, and rose early 
in the morning, and offered a sacrifice of as 
many victims as he had sons and daughters, 
teaching us how express and special our inter¬ 
cession for our families should be, and this he did 
u continually.”§ Would you resemble David, 
the man after God’s own heart? At the close 
of a busy day, we find him going “ home to 
bless his household.” || Do you envy Cornelius, 
whose prayers were heard, and to whom the 
Lord sent a special messenger to teach him the 

* Jer. x. 25. t Gen. xii. 7, 8; xiii. 4,8. 

t Gen. xviii. 19. § Job i. 5, 8. II 1 Chron. xvi. 43. 


IN THE HOUSE. 


81 


way of salvation ? He was “ a devout man, 
one who feared God with all his house , and 
prayed to God always and who was so 
anxious for the salvation of his family, that he 
got together his kinsmen and near friends, that 
they might be ready to hear the apostle when 
he arrived, and share with himself the benefit/ 
Do you admire Aquila and Priscilla, Paul’s 
“ helpers in Christ Jesus,” and who were so 
skilful in the Scriptures, that they were able to 
teach a young minister the way of God more 
perfectly? You will find that one reason for 
their familiarity with Scripture was, that they 
had “ a Church in their house.”! In the Bible 
you find instances of family devotion in all 
ranks of life, from the king to the artisan, from 
David’s palace to the tent of Aquila ; to teach 
you that whatever be your situation in life, you 
should still have a Church in your house. I 
have sometimes seen family worship in great 
houses : but I have felt that God was quite as 
near when I knelt with a praying family on 
the earthen floor of their cottage. I have known 
of family worship among the reapers in a barn. 
It used to be common in the fishing-boats upon 
the friths and lakes of Scotland. I have heard 
of its being observed in the depths of a coal-pit. 
I scarcely know the situation in life in which 
a willing family might not contrive to pray 
* Acts x. 2. 24,31, 23. t Acts xviii. 26: Rom. xvi. 5. 


82 


THE CHURCH 


together. If you live in a scoffing ungodly 
neighbourhood, so much the better. Abraham 
built his altar whilst heathen Canaanites looked 
on. He lifted up a testimony for God, and 
God honoured him—so that Abimelech, his 
neighbour, was constrained to say, “ God is 
with thee in all that thou doest.”* 

2. Wherever religion revives, family worship 
abounds. When the Spirit is poured out upon 
the house of David, “ the land shall mourn, 
“ every family apart.”t I can remember no 
instance of a great revival, of which this was 
not an attendant sign. Listen to the account 
which Mr. Baxter gives of Kidderminster during 
his ministry. “ On the Lord’s-day there was 
no disorder to be seen in the streets, but you 
might hear a hundred families singing psalms 
and repeating sermons, as you passed through 
the streets. When I came thither first, there 
was about one family in a street that wor¬ 
shipped God and called on his name, and when 
I came away, there were some streets, where 
there was not above one family in the side of 
a street that did not so; and that did not by 
professing serious godliness gives us some hopes 
of their sincerity: and those families which 
were the worst, being inns and ale-houses, 
usually some persons in each did seem to be 
religious. Some of the poor men did compe- 
* Gen. xxi. 22. t Zech. x. 12. 


IN THE HOUSE. 


83 


tently understand the body of divinity, and 
were able to judge in difficult controversies. 
Some of them were so able in prayer, that very 
few ministers did match them in order, and ful¬ 
ness, and apt expressions, and holy oratory 
with fervency. Abundance of them were able 
to pray very laudably with their families or 
with others. The temper of their minds and 
the innocency of their lives was much more 
laudable than their parts.” When the Spirit is 
poured upon us, our cities will all present a 
similar aspect. 

3. It would make your home much happier 
if you had a Church in your house. It has 
been said with much truth, “ Family prayer is 
the oil which removes friction, and causes all 
the complicated wheels of the family to move 
smoothly and noiselessly.” It is one way, and 
the very best, for bringing all the members of 
a family together, and /or promoting that har¬ 
mony of feeling so essential to domestic enjoy¬ 
ment. Some families are held together by 
hardly any bond, except that they lodge under 
the same roof, and assemble round the same 
board. But when they meet, it is not to fulfil 
one another’s joy. They are selfish and sullen; 
cross words, peevish answers, and angry re¬ 
criminations make up all their intercourse. 
The customary meal is despatched in a gloomy 
silence, or embittered by fretful words. I have 


84 


THE CHURCH 


known families so little at home with one 
another, that it was quite a relief when any 
casual visiter dropped in to break the irksome¬ 
ness of their own society. I have seen bro¬ 
thers and sisters so ill-assorted in the families 
in which God had planted them together, that 
they had no subject of common interest, and 
no mutual love nor confidence. They could 
converse and be happy with strangers, but not 
with one another. And I have seen this in 
families where there was a form of family wor¬ 
ship,—a pretence, a semblance of prayer—but 
never where there was the reality. If yours 
be such a family, before peace and affection 
visit it, you must say, “ Come and let us seek 
the Lord.” If you would see the dawn of 
blander days on that clouded and lowering 
circle, you must cry, “ Lord, lift thou up the 
light of thy countenance upon us, and so we 
shall be glad.” If you could only persuade 
them to take into their hands the volume that 
speaks good will to man, and as they sit to¬ 
gether to read by turns its messages of kind¬ 
ness ; and then as they bowed before the 
mercy-seat, if in their common name, you said, 
Our Father , and confessed their common sins, 
returned thanks for any mercies which the day 
had brought, and asked such blessings as all 
need, this process could not be long persisted 
in, till you would see its softening and har- 


IN THE HOUSE. 


85 


monizing influence. The dew of Hermon 
would begin to come down, and you would 
exclaim as you saw the difference, “Behold 
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren 
to dwell together in unity.”* 

But perhaps your family dwells in unity— 
but it is not a holy unity. It is not sanctified 
by the Word of God and by prayer. You are 
happy in one another. You are never at a 
loss for the materials of a cheerful intercourse. 
But amidst all the sprightliness, and cordiality, 
and kind feeling which encompass your fire¬ 
side, one ingredient of gladness is wanting. 
God is forgotten. In the morning, you meet 
and give one another a joyous greeting, and 
the morning meal despatched rush away to 
the day’s engagements without a word of ac¬ 
knowledgment to that God whose sleepless eye 
guarded your midnight pillow—without one 
word of prayer to bespeak his upholding and 
guidance in this day’s untrodden path. And 
when the evening hour of intercourse is over, 
and you have discussed the pleasant and pros¬ 
perous incidents of the day, you hie away, 
cheerful but unthankful , to a prayerless slum¬ 
ber, perhaps to awake in death’s dark valley, 
and find that the Lord is not with you. Your 
family is united—but it is a short-lived union. 
Your family-love—God is not in it, and there- 

* Psalm cxxxiii. 

8 


86 


THE CHURCH 


fore heaven does not follow after it. How it 
would give tone and intensity to the affection 
of your smiling circle, if you could be brought 
to love one another in the Lord ! With what 
new eyes you would learn to look upon your¬ 
selves, if you came to regard one another as 
brethren for eternity! And how it would 
heighten bliss, and take the sharpness out of 
sorrow, if “ For ever with the Lord,” were the 
thought which joy and grief most readily sug¬ 
gested ! Were it manifest of all the members 
of a family that God is their Father, Christ 
their elder Brother, and the Holy Spirit their 
Comforter, such a family would possess a joy 
which the removal of no member could take 
away. That joy has often come into house¬ 
holds through the channel of domestic devo¬ 
tion. For, 

4. Family worship is an ordinance which 
God has often blessed to the saving of souls. 
In houses where it is conducted with life and 
feeling, it has often proved a converting ordi¬ 
nance. A few years ago, an English gentle¬ 
man visited America, and spent some days 
with a pious friend. He was a man of talent 
and accomplishments, but an infidel. Four 
years afterwards, he retui^ied to the same house, 
a Christian. They wondered at the change, 
but little suspected when and where it had 
originated. He told them that when he was 


IN THE HOUSE. 


87 


present at their family worship, on the first 
evening of his former visit, and when after the 
chapter was read, they all knelt down to pray 
—the recollection of such scenes in his father’s 
house long years ago, rushed in on his memory, 
so that he did not hear a single word. But the 
occurrence made him think , and his thought¬ 
fulness ended in his leaving the howling wile, 
derness of infidelity, and finding a quiet rest 
in the salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ. 
In his Fireside , Mr. Abbot tells us of a gay 
young lady who paid a visit of a week in the 
family of a minister, an eminently holy man. 
His fervent intercessions for his children and 
the other inmates of his dwelling, went to this 
thoughtless heart: they were the Spirit’s arrow, 
and upon that family altar, his visiter was 
enabled to present herself a living sacrifice to 
God. It is with the Church in the house as 
with the church in the village. The wayfarer 
may get a word in passing, which he never can 
forget. The stranger that turns aside to tarry 
for a night may hear at your family worship 
the word that will save his soul. Some years 
ago, an Irish wanderer, his wife, and his sister, 
asked a night’s shelter in the cabin of a pious 
schoolmaster. With the characteristic hospi¬ 
tality of his nation, the schoolmaster made 
them welcome. It was his hour for evening 
worship ; and when the strangers were seated, 


88 


THE CHURCH 


he began by reading slowly and solemnly, the 
second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. 
The young man sat astonished. The expres¬ 
sions, “ Dead in trespasses and sins,” “ Children 
of wrath,” Walking after the course of this 
world,” were new to him. He sought an ex¬ 
planation. He was told that this is God’s 
account of the state of man by nature. He 
felt that it was exactly his own state. “ In 
this way I have walked from my childhood. 
In the service of the God of this world we have 
come to your house.” He was on the way to 
a fair, where he intended to pass a quantity of 
counterfeit money. But God’s Word had found 
him out. He produced his store of coin, and 
begged his host to cast it into the fire ; and 
asked anxiously if he could not obtain the 
Word of God for himself. His request was 
complied with, and next morning, with the 
new treasure, the party, who had now no errand 
to the fair, returned to their own home. Per¬ 
haps, by this time, the pious schoolmaster has 
met his guest within the gates of the city, out¬ 
side of which are thieves, and whatsoever 
maketh a lie. But I cannot enumerate all the 
conversions which have occurred at the Church 
in the House. Many servants have been 
awakened there. Children have often heard 
there truths, which, when the Spirit brought 
them to remembrance in after days—perhaps, 


IN THE HOUSE. 


89 


in days of profligacy, and when far from their 
father’s house—have sent home the prodigal. 
It is not only of Zion’s solemn assemblies, but 
of Jacob’s humble dwellings—the little fireside 
sanctuaries—*“ that the Lord shall count, when 
he writeth up the people, This man was born 
there.” In your house, there have been, per¬ 
haps, several immortal spirits born into the 
world. Have there been any born again ? 

Prayerless parents ! Your irreligion may 
prove your children’s damnation. They might 
have been within the fold of the Saviour by 
this time, had not you hindered them when 
entering in. That time when God visited your 
family with a heavy stroke, they were thought¬ 
ful for a season, but there was no Church in 
your house to give a heavenly direction to that 
thoughtfulness, and it soon died away. That 
evening when they came home from the Sab¬ 
bath School so serious, if you had been a pious 
father or mother, you would have taken your 
boy aside, and spoken tenderly to him, and 
asked what his teacher had been telling him ; 
and you would have prayed with him, and 
tried to deepen the impression. But your 
children came in from the church or school, 
and found no Church in their father’s house. 
Their hearts were softened, but your worldli¬ 
ness soon hardened them. The seed of the 
kingdom was just springing in their souls, and 
8 * 



90 


THE CHURCH 


by this time might have been a rich harvest of 
salvation ; but in the atmosphere of your un 
godly house, the tender blade withered instantly. 
Your idle talk, your frivolity, your Sunday 
visiters, your prayerless evening, ruined all. 
Your children were coming to Christ, and you 
suffered them not. And you will not need to 
hinder them long. The carnal mind is enmity 
against God; but no enmity so deep as theirs 
who were almost reconciled and then drew 
back. You drove your children back. You 
hardened them. They may never more be 
moved. They may grow up as prayerless and 
ungodly as yourself. If God should change 
yourself, they may soon be too hard for your 
own tears and entreaties. If you die as you 
are, their evil works will follow you to the world 
of woe, and pour new ingredients into your 
own cup of wrath. O ! think of these things. 
A prayerless house is not only a cheerless one, 
but it is a guilty one; for where God is not, 
there Satan is. 

But I know not why I should multiply words 
to prove a duty which nature teaches. The 
poor Pagan with his household gods and family 
altar will rise in the judgment against some of 
this generation and will condemn them. In¬ 
stead, therefore, of saying more on the obliga¬ 
tion and advantages of this most reasonable 
service, I shall endeavour to give some plain 


IN THE HOUSE. 91 

directions to those into whose hearts the Lord 
has put the desire to begin it. 

1. Can you sing? or is there any one ih the 
house who can ? You will find it enliven the 
service wonderfully if you can make “ a joyful 
noise unto the Lord.” The psalm or hymn is 
a part of the service which the youngest enjoy, 
and in which they will gladly take a share. 

2. There is the reading of the Word of God. 
You may go straight through, or you may 
select a course of subjects. For instance, you 
might read the parables as one series, and the 
miracles of Christ as another. You might 
select the biographical portions, and read the 
lives of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Peter, Paul, 
&c.: or you might read the Epistles in con¬ 
nexion with the history of the Churches, or in¬ 
dividuals to whom they are addressed. Thus 
you might compare Ephesians with Acts xviii 
—xx., and with Rev. ii. 1—8; or Thessalonians 
with Acts xvii. 1—13; and you might com¬ 
pare the Psalms with the period in David’s his¬ 
tory when each was written, and the Prophe¬ 
cies with those passages which record their ful¬ 
filment—a comparison, which a Bible, with 
good marginal references, will enable you to 
make. Or you may select passages appropriate 
to particular seasons. On the morning of a 
Lord’s-day, you might read Psalm xlviii., lxiii., 
lxxxiv., xcii., cxviii.; John xx.; Rev. i., (fee. 


92 


THE CHURCH 


On a sacramental Sabbath, Psalm xxii., xlv.; 
Isa. liii.; Matt. xxvi.; John vi., &c. It might 
help to keep attention awake, if each read a 
verse in rotation. At other times there might 
be more solemnity if the same person read the 
whole continuously. It would make it more 
impressive and more memorable, if you occa¬ 
sionally asked a question, or made a few re¬ 
marks on the passage read. For instance, you 
read the nineteenth of Luke, and this is your 
commentary as you go along. 

1. “ And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 

2. “ And behold there was a man named Zaccheus, which 
was the chief among the publicans (or tax-gatherers,) and 
he was rich. 

3. “ And he sought to see Jesus, who he was : and could 
not for the press, because he was little of stature.” 

This was the last time that Jesus passed 
through Jericho. He had often passed quietly 
through it before ; but now his time was fully 
come, and he could not be hid. The road was 
full of passengers at this season at any rate; 
for it was Passover time, and they were all go¬ 
ing up to Jerusalem. Besides, the sensation in 
Jericho was increased by the miracle which 
Jesus had just wrought on the blind beggar, 
and which we read in the last chapter yester¬ 
day. The crowd was so great that Zaccheus 
could get no opening to push through, and he 
was so little that he could not see over other 
people’s shoulders. 


IN THE HOUSE. 93 

4. “ And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore- 
tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 

5. And when Jesus came to the place he looked up, and 
saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come 
down ; for to-day I must abide at thy house.” 

How surprised he must have been ! Up in 
the leafy sycamore, he never expected to be 
noticed. But see ! Jesus stands still and looks 
at him as if he were about to speak. Perhaps 
Zaccheus expected to get a rebuke before the 
multitude for his villanies, when Jesus, in his 
own gentle way, just says, u Zaccheus, make 
haste, and come down ; for to-day I must abide 
at thy house.” Grace went with the word. 

6. “ And he made haste, and came down, and received him 

joyfully. # 

7. “ And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, 
That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” 

There were many who felt that they had a 
better right to this distinction than the mean 
grasping tax-gatherer. Many of them felt as 
if they were not sinners. It lowered their 
opinion of Christ, that he would condescend to 
become the guest of such a man. They little 
knew the reason. 

“ And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, 
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor: and if I have 
taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore 
him fourfold.” 

How glad he must have been! A happy 
heart devises liberal things—and so happy had 


94 


THE CHURCH 


this visit made him, that his greedy soul had 
no longer love for money. He stood up like 
one on whom a sudden thought had come, or 
who wished to give solemnity to what he said, 
and declared that he would make it all up to 
those whom he had wronged, and give half 
his substance to the poor. This was the effect 
of receiving Jesus. Where the love of Christ 
enters, the love of the world goes out. What 
would the murmurers think when they saw 
this change upon the “ sinner.” 

9. “ And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come 
to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” 

It was his “joyful receiving” of Jesus which 
made hin* a son of Abraham. It made him 
more. It made him one of the sons of God.* 
Have we received Christ ? Has his voice ever 
made us joyful ? Have we ever parted with 
“ goods,” or anything else from gratitude to 
Him ? Now let us remember the next verse, 
for it is one of Christ’s own faithful sayings. 

10. “ For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that 
which was lost.” 

This is one way. Another, and perhaps bet¬ 
ter way, is to make the members of the family 
supply the commentary themselves. This 
evening, before it is so late that you are all 
sleepy, you sit round the table, each with his 
* John i. 12. 


IN THE HOUSE. 


95 


Bible open before him; and the passage selected 
is the forty-fifth of Isaiah. 

1. “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose 
right hand 1 have holden, to subdue nations before him; and 
I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two¬ 
leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.” 

Father. The prophet has been foretelling 
the fall of Babylon, and here he names its con¬ 
queror. Mary, what is his name ? 

Mary. Cyrus. 

Father. Does any one know how long after 
this it was before Cyrus made his appearance ? 
—Can no one tell? George, your Bible has 
got the date on its margin. Can you tell when 
Isaiah uttered this prophecy ? 

George. About 712 years before Christ. 

Father. Now if you will look to the begin¬ 
ning of Ezra, you will see the first year of 
Cyrus set down there. 

George. Before Christ 536. 

Father. Then how long before had the Lord 
called Cyrus by his name ? 

George. Nearly 200 years. 

Father. It is not very long since John and 
Henry finished the Life of Cyrus. Do you 
remember any facts which illustrate this pro¬ 
phecy ? 

Henry . The Lord says, “ I have holden his 
right hand to subdue nations before him.” 
Cyrus subdued the Lydians with their rich 


96 


THE CHURCH 


King- Croesus, the Phrygians, the Phoenicians, 
and many more, as well as the Babylonians. 

John. Yes; and when he took Babylon, “ the 
gates were not shut.” For the people were all 
drinking and diverting themselves, when he 
dried up the river; and had forgot to shut the 
gates at the end of the streets which open into 
the river—so that Cyrus had nothing to do 
but march down the dry channel, and then 
climb up the banks into the city. 

Father. Very true—but do you remember 
nothing more about “ opening the two-leaved 
gates ?” 

Henry. Oh, yes ! When the King of Baby¬ 
lon heard the uproar in the city, he sent to find 
out what was the matter, and when they were 
opening the palace gates to let out the king’s 
messenger, the Persians rushed in and killed 
the king. 

Try to bring out some lesson that may be 
needed that very day. You read at morning 
worship that verse, 1 Cor. x. 31. 

“ Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, 
do all to the glory of God.” 

Father. What does that mean ? 

John. That everything, however little, we 
are to do it so as to please God. 

Father. Quite so. It means that you, 
children, when learning your lessons, or at 


IN THE HOUSE. 


97 


play—that Sarah down stairs, and your father 
in his counting-room, should all remember that 
we have a Father in heaven, and should do 
every thing, the little things and the great 
things, in the way that pleases Him. 

The passage which you mean to read with 
your family, read carefully over beforehand ; 
and consider what are its most striking points 
and most useful lessons ; and a little practice 
will make you a good family expositor. 

3. The last and most important part of family 
worship is united prayer. By prayer, I mean 
the outpouring of an earnest heart in the name 
of Jesus. It is not prayer when you merely 
read or repeat a heartless form. You do not 
ask a blessing on your daily bread, when you 
merely mutter over it a charm—a few inarti¬ 
culate words for custom’s sake. Nor do you 
pray when you bend the knee, and read or 
say a few petitions which you do not feel, and 
which you forget as soon as you have uttered. 
It is prayer, when you ask from God blessings 
which you are really anxious to obtain, and 
when, in a conviction of your own unworthi¬ 
ness, you ask them for the sake of Him who 
indeed is worthy, the well-beloved Son of God. 
It is prayer, when you ask so earnestly that 
you remember afterwards what you sought, 
and so believingly, that, looking up, you ex¬ 
pect an answer. Be earnest. Better no prayer, 
9 


98 


THE CHURCH 


than give your family a distaste at prayer, by 
your dulness and formality. Be honest. Deal 
truly with the God of Truth. Do not mock 
the Searcher of hearts. Give yourself to the 
Lord—then set up his worship. Go to the Lord 
Jesus yourself, and then seek to bring your 
children with you. 

In family prayer you may be more minute 
and specific than it is possible to be in more 
public services. If you have a deep reverence 
of God upon your mind, there is no fear that 
particularity will degenerate into an unholy 
familiarity. If any of your friends are in afflic¬ 
tion, pray for them. If your children are at 
school, or at a Sabbath-class, pray for their 
teacher. Pray for your brethren in church- 
fellowship, that the beauty of the Lord may be 
upon them, and that they may dwell in love. 
Pray for the office-bearers of your Church ; 
pray for your minister. Endeavour to interest 
your family in the extension of the Redeemer’s 
kingdom, and pray for faithful ministers and 
missionaries, especially in those places in which 
you feel most interested. Every morning com¬ 
mit your way to God. Bespeak his presence 
in all the duties and temptations of the day— 
his blessing on your intercourse ; and especially 
on any means of grace, which you hope to 
enjoy. Every night commend yourselves to 
his watchful keeping, that you may sleep and 


IN THE HOUSE. 


99 


wake with him. Pray over the Scriptures you 
have read. And abound in thanksgiving. Cul¬ 
tivate a cheerful and a grateful spirit; think if 
there be any mercies you have lately received, 
and acknowledge them. Has any one arrived 
from a journey safe and well ? Is a sick mem¬ 
ber of the family restored ? Have you heard 
good news from the far country, tidings from 
the absent brother? Were you at church or 
at the prayer-meeting this evening? and did 
you find it refreshing ? Have you read in your 
“Missionary Magazine” the conversion of a 
Heathen or a Jew ? Have you heard that God 
is pouring out his Spirit on some corner of our 
own country ? Have you got an answer to 
a former prayer ? Praise the # Lord, for it is 
pleasant. 

It will depend on the age of your family and 
the amount of your leisure, how long the ser¬ 
vice should be. Some hurry it over in a way 
which shows that they have no heart in it 
themselves. Others prolong it so, that every 
one else is wearied. Ten minutes of a formal 
service will look longer than twice the time 
when the whole soul is in it. 

Be consistent. “ Behave yourself wisely in 
a perfect way. Walk within your house with 
a perfect heart.”* If you be devout in prayer, 
and unholy in practice; if you be heavenly- 
* Psalm ci. 2. 


98 


THE CHURCH 


than give your family a distaste at prayer, by 
your dulness and formality. Be honest. Deal 
truly with the God of Truth. Do not mock 
the Searcher of hearts. Give yourself to the 
Lord—then set up his worship. Go to the Lord 
Jesus yourself, and then seek to bring your 
children with you. 

In family prayer you may be more minute 
and specific than it is possible to be in more 
public services. If you have a deep reverence 
of God upon your mind, there is no fear that 
particularity will degenerate into an unholy 
familiarity. If any of your friends are in afflic¬ 
tion, pray for them. If your children are at 
school, or at a Sabbath-class, pray for their 
teacher. Pray for your brethren in church- 
fellowship, that the beauty of the Lord may be 
upon them, and that they may dwell in love. 
Pray for the office-bearers of your Church ; 
pray for your minister. Endeavour to interest 
your family in the extension of the Redeemer’s 
kingdom, and pray for faithful ministers, and 
missionaries, especially in those places in which 
you feel most interested. Every morning com¬ 
mit your way to God. Bespeak his presence 
in all the duties and temptations of the day— 
his blessing on your intercourse ; and especially 
on any means of grace, which you hope to 
enjoy. Every night commend yourselves to 
his watchful keeping, that you may sleep and 


IN THE HOUSE. 


99 


wake with him. Pray over the Scriptures you 
have read. And abound in thanksgiving. Cul¬ 
tivate a cheerful and a grateful spirit; think if 
there be any mercies you have lately received, 
and acknowledge them. Has any one arrived 
from a journey safe and well ? Is a sick mem¬ 
ber of the family restored ? Have you heard 
good news from the far country, tidings from 
the absent brother ? Were you at church or 
at the prayer-meeting this evening? and did 
you find it refreshing ? Have you read in your 
“Missionary Magazine” the conversion of a 
Heathen or a Jew ? Have you heard that God 
is pouring out his Spirit on some corner of our 
own country? Have you got an answer to 
a former prayer? Praise the Lord, for it is 
pleasant. 

It will depend on the age of your family and 
the amount of your leisure, how long the ser¬ 
vice should be. Some hurry it over in a way 
which shows that they have no heart in it 
themselves. Others prolong it so, that every 
one else is wearied. Ten minutes of a formal 
service will look longer than twice the time 
when the whole soul is in it. 

Be consistent. “ Behave yourself wisely in 
a perfect way. Walk within your house with 
a perfect heart.”* If you be devout in prayer, 
and unholy in practice ; if you be heavenly- 
* Psalm ci. 2. 


100 


THE CHURCH 


minded at the hour of worship, and frivolous, 
or proud, or passionate all the day; if you 
teach your children in the morning, “ Be not 
conformed to this world,” and if half the day’s 
lessons be designed to conform them to the 
world as nearly as possible; if you pray for 
your household that you may be all m£ek, and 
gentle, and kindly-affectioned one to another, 
and then treat your servants as haughtily as if 
they were your slaves or your enemies; your 
contradictory prayers and practices will be a 
terrible stumbling-block in their way to the 
kingdom. God may convert them ; but your 
conduct will make that miracle of grace more 
surprising still. 

Reader, I do not know whether by this time 
you are almost persuaded, or have actually 
determined to begin. When I think what you 
are losing who are strangers to this delightful 
exercise, and when I farther think on the 
blessed results which might flow from your 
now beginning it, I am loth to leave off— 
though it is time we were done. Do you still 
hesitate ? What is your excuse ? 

“ I never saw the advantages you describe. 
It has always been a dull service wherever I 
have seen it.” But you need not make it dull. 
Throw your whole heart and soul into it, and 
it will be lively enough. It is often dull be- 


IN THE HOUSE. 


103 


them. “ Wherever I have a tent,” he would 
say, “ there God shall have an altar.” If there 
be two of you—though it should be but a Ruth 
and a Naomi, a mother and her daughter, your 
family is large enough to worship God, and to 
get the blessing of those who worship him. 

My family is so large. There are so many 
servants, and often so many visitors, that I have 
not courage to begin.” If your family be large, 
the obligation to begin is all the greater. Many 
suffer by your neglect. And if your congre¬ 
gation be numerous, the likelihood that some 
good will be done is the greater; for there are 
more to share the benefit. And why want 
courage? Should not the very fact that you 
are acknowledging God encourage you? 
“ Them that honour me, I will honour.” Begin 
it believingly, and in the very attempt courage 
will come. 

“But I have no gift of prayer. I cannot 
lead the devotions of my family.” Prayer is 
the gift of the Holy Spirit.* Before you begin 
ask God to give you his Spirit to teach you.t 
I have heard of stammering men who were 
eloquent in prayer, for the Spirit of God spake 
by them. When you pray, remember that 
God is listening. You have called on him to 
hearken. You have asked him to lend you an 
attentive ear, for you are about to ask mercies 
* Rom. viii. 26. t Luke xi. 13. 


9 


102 


THE CHURCH 


ing voice was overheard singing the old psalm- 
tune, reading aloud the chapter, and praying 
as if others still worshipped by his side. He 
had not found it dull. 

“ I have no time.” If you really value time, 
family prayer is good husbandry oLtime. What 
you do with God’s blessing is mucti better and 
faster done than what you do without it, and is 
not so likely to need doing over again. You 
will find it here as Sir Matthew Hale found 
it with the Sabbath. What you take from God, 
he can easily take from you. If other things 
were equal, I should expect far more to be accom¬ 
plished in a day, by the man whose spirit had 
been tranquillized, his resolution, fortified, and 
his activity quickened by morning prayer, than 
from the man who impiously hurried out to do 
it all without asking God’s presence. Philip 
Henry, who was an excellent economist of 
time, when early out of bed to hasten the pre¬ 
parations for a day’s travel, as he called his 
children together, used to say to them, “Prayer 
and provender hinder no man’s journey.” Try 
his homely maxim and you will find it true. 

“ Our family is so small.” How many are 
there of you ? Are there two ? Then, “ Where¬ 
soever two” (see Matt, xviii. 19, 20). John 
Howard and his valet, as they journeyed from 
place to place, used to have family worship by 
themselves, if they could get no one else to join 


IN THE HOUSE. 


105 


obligations which you owe to yourselves, to your 
children, and to God : to yourselves, who will 
never have the same inward happiness, nor the 
same satisfaction in your family circle, till once 
the voice of rejoicing, the melody and praise 
which are heard in the tabernacles of the righ¬ 
teous, be heard in your own : to your children, 
who will rise up and call you blessed, if you 
guide their feet into the way of peace: to God, 
who offers to become the never-slumbering 
keeper of you and yours, and to uphold your 
going out and coming in from this time forth 
for ever. These are the considerations I have 
used. Some of you may think that I would 
have succeeded better, if I had dwelt on the 
beautiful and picturesque of family religion ; if 
I had carried you back to the time when the 
glory of domestic piety had her habitation in 
our land, when villages and towns presented a 
look of Sabbath quietness at the hour of morn¬ 
ing prayer, and when night succeeding night 
repeated the praises of God from the lonely up¬ 
land cottage to the hamlet on the plain. I 
might have done this; and I might have 
planted you amidst the worshipping household, 
and invited you to listen to the cordial music 
of their psalm, and the pathos and fervour of 
their prayer. But one thing hinders me. I 
know that all that is beautiful and picturesque 
in domestic devotion, has not only been wit- 


106 THE CHURCH 

nessed but described by those whom its loveli¬ 
ness could never win to an imitation. It is one 
thing for a heart full of sensibility to be touched 
by contemplating the beauty and the joys of 
true devotion, and quite another thing for a re¬ 
newed heart to feel these joys. Hundreds have 
been melted by the matchless poem, in which 
the bard of Scotland describes the worship of a 
cottage patriarch; but the Cottar's Saturday 
Night never taught any man to J)ray. It is 
told of Sir Walter Scott, that sometimes of an 
evening he took his guests to an arbour on his 
lawn, and let them hear the distant music of a 
sacred tune. It came from the cottage of one 
of his dependants, and fell touchingly on the 
ear of the great minstrel himself—but it only 
touched the ear. He and his visitors went back 
to the drawing-room at Abbotsford, but it was 
not to raise with their better skill an evening 
hymn of thanksgiving to the God of all their 
mercies. The distant cadence of a covenant¬ 
ing melody was somewhat romantic, but nearer 
hand it would have blended ill with the dance 
and the tabret. They all agreed that the voice 
of psalms from a cottage was picturesque—but 
that in the mansion, the harp and the viol 
would be more appropriate.* If higher consi- 

* These merry halls were soon after silent, and “ the voice 
of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers,” has never since 
been heard in them. The “ psalm-singing” servant was a 
brother born for adversity, and on the breaking-up of the 


IN THE HOUSE. 


107 


derations have no weight, I am sure that a little 
picture-work will not prevail upon you. 

Fathers and brethren, some of you are the 
heads of happy families to-day. All that I ask 
is, that you would make them happier still— 
happy, not only in your love, but in the love of 
God the Saviour, happy for time and through 
eternity. The happiest family will not be 
always so. The most smiling circle will be in 
tears some day. All that I ask is, that you 
would secure for youfselves and your children, 
a friend in that blessed Redeemer, who will 
wipe all tears from all faces. Your families 
may soon be scattered, and familiar voices may 
cease to echo within your walls. They may 
go each to his own, and some of them may go 
far away. O see to it, that the God of Bethel 
goes with them, that they set up an altar even 

establishment, refused to leave his master, and rather than 
leave him offered to serve for nothing. In his new post of 
ploughman, it affected the poor Baronet to hear “ Old Peep” 
Whistling to his team, as he trod the fresh-turned furrows. It 
Was a change to both; but it would seem that the one pos- 
cessed a source of perennial joy which outward calamities 
could not dry up nor trouble. And after all, in an angel's 
eye, which is the greater genius—the sublimer spirit—the 
poet on his Pegasus, or the peasant, who in the hour of ca¬ 
lamity can take the wings of a dove, and fly away and be at 
rest ? Who that has read the latter days of Robert Burns, 
does not wish that he had been his own Cottar ? He some¬ 
times wished it himself. The son of Bosor is not the only 
man whom the sight of Jacob’s goodly tents has made to 
sigh, “ Let me die the death of the righteous.” 


108 


THE CHURCH 


on a distant shore, and sing the Lord’s song in 
that foreign land. They may be taken from 
this earth altogether, and leave you alone. O 
see to it; that as one after another goes, it may 
be to their Father’s house above, and to sing 
with heavenly voices, and to a heavenly harp, 
the song which they first learned from you, and 
with you often sang together here—the song 
of Moses and the Lamb. And if you be taken, 
and some of them be left, see to it that you 
leave them the thankful assurance that you are 
gone to their Father, and your Father, their 
C*od, and your God. And, in the meanwhile, 
let your united worship be so frequent and so 
fervent, that when you are taken from their 
head, the one whose sad office it is to supply 
your place, as priest of that household, shall 
not be able to select a chapter or a psalm, with 
which your living image and voice are not as¬ 
sociated, and in which you, though dead, are 
yet speaking to them. And thus my heart’s 
wish for you all, 

When soon or late you reach that coast, 

O’er life’s rough ocean driven; 

May you rejoice, no wanderer lost, 

A family in heaven. 

National Scotch Church , Re gent-square, 

January ls£, 1842. 


THE 


DEW OF HERMON. 

\ 


By all accounts there are few mountains 
drenched in more copious dew than Her- 
mon. That dew is Hermon’s “life.” It wa¬ 
ters every living plant, from the soft bunches 
of hyssop and the little cushions of scented 
thyme, up to the oak, with hi3 rugged arms 
and his stiff leaves of evergreen,—from the 
lily in the valley to the lichen on the rocky 
height. It waters and refreshes them all. It 
has no effect on the dust, the pebbles, and the 
lifeless herbs ; but wherever there is life it gives 
that life more abundantly,—so abundantly that 
no one grudges the other’s share. The lowly 
hyssop does not envy the lofty oak, and what 
fills the rose cup is not robbed from the tiny 
moss. When that dew distils, all rejoice to¬ 
gether, and the more cause one has for rejoicing, 
the more cause have all. Where the magazine 
of supply is heaven, there is no room for envy; 

10 



110 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


for however much is given there is always 
more to give. 

The dew coming down on Hermon is an 
emblem of the Holy Spirit descending on a 
Church. Wherever he comes down there are 
freshness, life, and beauty. Every living 
thing revives, and the more one gets the better 
it is for all. 

But there were more hills than Hermon: 
Zion lay farther south and so stood in more 
need of the distilling dew. And Zion also 
got it. The dew of Hermon descended on 
the mountains of Zion, and there produced 
the self-same effects. Zion was revived and 
refreshed as Hermon had been. Zion and 
Hermon were far asunder; but they were 
brethren, and the Lord commanded the same 
blessing on them both; nor did Hermon lose 
by what Zion got. 

And when the Psalmist saw this, he said, 
u Behold how good, and how pleasant it is 
for brethren to dwell together in unity! As 
the dew of Hermon that descended upon the 
mountains of Zion : for there the Lord com¬ 
manded the blessing, even life for evermore.”* 

* Psalm cxxxiii. In the authorized version a few words are 
inserted in italics, which make the sense somewhat different. 
The author of Helon’s Pilgrimage applies the passage very 
beautifully. When the Pilgrims from Galilee (where Her¬ 
mon lay,) are entering the gate of Jerusalem at the passover, 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


Ill 


They were both sacred mountains; both within 
the confines of the holy land; but they were 
not the same. Their forms were different, and 
different productions grew on each.* But Her- 
mon did not quarrel with Zion; nor did the 
vines and olives of Zion grudge that the oaks 
and pasture of Hermon were enriched with 
God’s full flood as well as themselves. It were 
even thus if believing brethren would dwell in 
unity. There is enough in the residue of the 
Spirit to enrich and revive them all. 

But more than this. Would brethren dwell 
in unity, the same dew which revives and 
gladdens Hermon would be poured out on the 
dry ground till it was as green and lovely 
as that hill of God. When believers are so 
filled with the life-giving and love-diffusing 
Spirit of God, as to realize the unity of the 
Spirit,—in other words, when they are one,— 
the world will join the Church,—the world will 
in its turn believe. 

That the unity of believers and the conver¬ 
sion of the world are intimately connected, is 
evident from the intercessory prayer of the Lord 
Jesus. That the unity of believers and the 
conversion of the world both await the great 
New Testament promise, the full outpouring of 

he addresses the words to them, as if they were the dew of 
Hermon coming down on Zion. 

* “ Unity in diversity, and diversity in unity, is a law of 
nature and also of the Church.”— D’Audi"ne. 


112 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


the Holy Spirit, is evident by reading that prayer 
in connexion with the discourse that pre¬ 
ceded it. 


THE PROMISE. 

u When He (the Comforter) is come, He will 
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, 
and of judgment: of sin, because they believe 
not on me ; of righteousness, because I go to 
my Father, and ye see me no more ; of judg¬ 
ment, because the prince of this world is 
judged. 55 * 

THE PRAYER. 

‘^Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
also which shall believe on me through their 
word ; that they all may be one; as thou, Fa¬ 
ther, art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
may be one in us : that the world may believe 
that thou hast sent me. And the glory which 
thou gavest me I have given them, that they 
may be one, even as we are one: I in them, 
and thou in me, that they may be made per¬ 
fect in me ; and that the world may know that 
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as 
thou hast loved me. 55 t 

It must be a singular blessing which the Son 
of God implored thus earnestly, and on the ob¬ 
taining of which he knew that such mighty 
* John xvi. 8—11. t John xvii. 20—23. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


113 


results depended. Until it be bestowed the joy of 
the Saviour and the beauty of his blood-bought 
Church are incomplete, and the world’s con¬ 
version is deferred. And as they can have 
little of the Master’s spirit who do not sympa¬ 
thize in the prayer which, when his hour was 
come he lifted up his eyes to heaven and 
offered, so they have much to animate their 
hopes, their exertions, and their prayers, who 
long for the Church’s unity. Each prayer of 
the Divine Redeemer is a prophecy. There 
are omniscience and omnipotence in his sup¬ 
plications ; and after the Great Intercessor has 
said (as here he says) I will, all that is want¬ 
ing to the answer is the Amen of an awakened 
and sympathizing Church. Were believers to 
agree as touching this thing,—were the “ Even 
so” of strong desire and consentaneous prayer 
not contradicted by opposing practice, the fiat 
would speedily go forth. Whilst we were yet 
speaking God would answer; and by union 
in prayer, prepared for unity in faith and prac¬ 
tice, we should rise from our knees to behold 
that blessed sight, the kingdoms of this world 
becoming the kingdoms of our God and his 
Christ. Believers would be one, and as a con¬ 
sequence the world would believe. 

Taking it as a token for good that so many 
thoughts are now turned towards this object, 
but fearing that some pray for it who “ know 
10 * 


114 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


not what they ask,”—believing too that it will 
be most desired by those who understand it 
best, it will be our endeavour first of all to 
ascertain what that “ oneness” of his people is 
for which the Lord Jesus prayed ; and then we 
shall perceive more clearly the likeliest means 
of securing it. 

1. It is a union of believers: “I pray for 
them which shall believe on me.” In other 
words, it is a union of regenerate men.* It is 
a union of those who are one with God: “That 
they may be one in us.” Believing in Jesus, 
or peace with God, is the basis of Christian 
unity. 

The sinner and the living God are far 
asunder—as widely severed as the love of holi¬ 
ness on the one side and the love of sin on the 
other can sunder them. The careless sinner 
is as remote from God as an atheistic spirit— 
as an evil heart of unbelief can carry him : and 
the convinced sinner is as far away from God 
as the guilty misgivings of a conscience awake 
to the enormity of unpardoned sin can keep 
him. Hatred —carnal enmity—keeps the un¬ 
awakened sinner standing afar off: suspicion, 
distrust, keeps the anxious sinner nearly as 
far. And it is not till the Lord Jesus, the 
Peacemaker, comes and lays his hand of con¬ 
ciliation and love on the sinner, and brings 
* John iii. 3, 9, 14, 15. 1 John v. 1. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


115 


him near to a propitious God, that the last 
trace of the hatred disappears, and the suspi¬ 
cion is supplanted by confidence and joy. 
From that moment forward the antagonism 
between God and the sinner is ended. The 
controversy of many a guilty year is succeeded 
by a covenant of everlasting peace. The two 
walk together, because they are agreed. The 
sinner, renewed and reconciled, is of one mind 
with God—loves the same things which God 
loves—seeks the same end which God also 
seeks, even God’s own glory—and the Spirit 
of Christ dwelling in him, he now dwells in 
God. In this sense all regenerate men are 
one : they are one in God. Of every true be¬ 
liever it may be truly said, whether he dare to 
say it of himself or not, “ Christ liveth in him : 
He dwelleth in God.” 

Now, no man is a Christian till he is thus 
made one with God. If he be thus made one 
with God, he is a Christian, though some cir¬ 
cumstance should hinder him from joining any 
Church on earth ; and if he be not thus made 
one with God, he may join the purest and most 
scriptural Church on earth, and not be a Chris¬ 
tian after all. The Church of the living God 
consists of regenerate men. A carnal man in 
a spiritual Church is carnal still: a spiritual 
man in a corrupt Church is spiritual still. He 
is the citizen of Zion—not who dwells within 


116 THE DEW OF HERMON. 

the stone walls of any earthly sanctuary 
—not who dwelleth with any sect or party 
here—but who dwelleth in God and God in 
him. All such men are actually one. In hea¬ 
ven all such men are visibly one; and it 
would be best for the world if even on earth 
all such men were ostensibly as well as virtu¬ 
ally one. 

The union for which the Lord Jesus prayed 
was, a union of spiritual men—a union not of 
mere professors, but of his true disciples—a 
union in the Lord — in us'. Any other union 
is little worth—a union of professors with pro¬ 
fessors—of one dead Church with another dead 
Church—is but a filling of the charnel-house, 
a heaping of the compost-pile. A union of 
dead professors with living saints, this union 
of life and death, is but to pour the green and 
putrid water of the stagnant pool into the living 
spring. It is not to graft new branches into 
the goodly vine, but to bandage on dead boughs 
that will but deform it. It is not to gather 
new wheat into the garner, but to blend the 
wheat and chaff again together. It is not to 
gather new sheep into the fold, but it is to bor¬ 
row the shepherd’s brand and imprint it on the 
dogs and wolves and call them sheep. The 
identifying of christened pagans with the pecu¬ 
liar people, has done much dishonour to the 
Redeemer, has deluded many souls, and made 


THE DEW ©F HERMON. 


117 


it much more difficult for the Church to con¬ 
vince the world. 

It was not this amalgamation of the Church 
and the world which the Saviour contemplated 
when he prayed for his people’s unity. It was 
a union of spiritual men—a holy unity— 
springing from oneness with himself. Union 
with Christ is an indispensable preliminary to 
union with the Church of Christ. An indi¬ 
vidual must be joined to Christ before he can 
be a true member of the Church of Christ. 
And those individuals and those Churches 
which are the most closely joined to Christ, are 
the nearest to one another, and will be the first 
to coalesce in fulfilment of Christ’s prayer, 
u May they all be one.” 

The more faith there is in the earth, the 
more foundation is there for Christian unity. 
But the Holy Spirit is the author of faith. It 
is he who reveals Jesus and glorifies him 
(John xvi. 14.) It is he who unites the soul to 
Christ. It is he alone who can fill Churches with 
living members, that is, with the elements of 
Christian unity. 

2. It is an orthodox union. Any price is too 
little to pay for such a blessing, except the 
faith once delivered to the saints. This we 
must not sell; and, happily, there is no need. 
“ When he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth.” The author 


118 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


of unity is the Spirit of Truth ; and it is by 
causing believers to see eye to eye, that he will 
join them heart to heart. It cannot be a close 
and healthful union which includes an error 
or rejects a truth. And, taking it for granted 
that all which God has been pleased to reveal 
it is possible to ascertain, and that all which 
we ascertain we are bound to believe, if asked, 
On what platform the Church is likely at last 
to unite 7 we answer, On the platform of ortho¬ 
doxy. It is pride which perpetuates error. 
The wars and fightings and false doctrines of 
Christian men have one parentage ; they come 
from their remaining “lusts.”* These lusts 
no power can subdue, except the Omnipotent 
Spirit. He alone can annihilate pride and 
pugnacity, and make men so earnest and 
docile that they will freely part with long- 
cherished error, and accept, meekly and joy¬ 
fully, long-rejected truth. And when he has 
given the Lord’s people a quiet and weaned 
spirit, he will secure a frank and cheerful ad¬ 
mission for every truth which the Word of God 
contains. There will be no triumph of parti¬ 
sanship, and no humiliation in concession, 
when each feels that it is not human might nor 
power, but the Spirit of the Lord, which is win¬ 
ning truth’s victory over error. The latitudina- 
rian unity which surrenders truth for peace, and 
♦ James i. 21; iv. 1. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


119 


purity for quiet, is not the unity for which the 
Saviour prayed. Truth and love, purity and 
peace, are each such a blessing, that he designs 
that his Church should enjoy them all: and 
when the residue of the Spirit is bestowed, 
they will be one and all vouchsafed. Far 
from fancying that the creed of a united 
Church will be that scantling of truth which 
remains after every man has subtracted the 
doctrines against which he entertains a preju¬ 
dice, we are assured that the eventual confes¬ 
sion of the Church’s faith will be more exact 
and comprehensive than any existing standard, 
for it will include the entire revelation of God. 
It will contain as many articles as there are 
texts in Scripture. It will be the Bible under¬ 
stood according to the mind of him who gave 
it: the Bible read with the inspiring Spirit for 
the infallible interpreter. When the Spirit of 
the Lord lifts up that standard, and displays it 
to believing eyes, he will make it the rallying- 
point of a re-uniting Church. Led into all 
truth, and sanctified through the truth, believers 
will be one. 

3. It is a union resulting from individual 
believers becoming eminently like to the Lord 
Jesus himself. “ The glory which thou gavest 
me, I have given them ; that they may be 
one.” On which wonderful words you find a 
comment in 2 Cor. iii. 17: “ We all with open 


120 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


face beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the 
Lord.” The man who eyes Immanuel most 
eagerly and stedfastly—the man who by the Spi¬ 
rit is transformed into the closest resemblance to 
the Son of God, is the man most prepared to 
repeat and fulfil this prayer. The most Christ- 
like Christian is the most truly catholic: his 
love comprehends all saints. One glory of the 
Lord Jesus was his patience. The dulness of 
disciples was wearisome : to most of us it would 
have been provoking; but it did not disgust 
nor irritate their Master. They were slow to 
understand ; but their Teacher was the Lamb 
of God. They were dull; but he was gentle 
and patient, and took infinite pains with them, 
lie knew that they loved him, and that they 
believed him ; so he bore with much carnality, 
much obtuseness, and many misconceptions. 
He rather thought of what they were yet to be, 
than of what they already were ; and by the 
pains he took with them, he made them what 
he wished them to be. They showed much 
bigotry. They marvelled when he talked with 
a Samaritan woman.* It was his meat and 
drink to do such things ; and in the conversion 
of that woman and many of her fellow-towns¬ 
men, he gave them an affecting reason for 
* John iv. 27. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 121 

talking with Samaritans. They showed griev¬ 
ous sectarianism. They would rather that a 
man should be possessed by the devil, than that 
one not belonging to their own company should 
cure him : “We forbad him, because he fol- 
loweth not with us.”* They could not say 
that he was not a follower, for they had heard 
him use their Master’s name ; but he followed 
not with them. The Saviour rejoiced to hear 
that devils were cast out, and that this man 
had faith to do it in Christ’s name ; and so he 
taught the disciples that there was something 
more important still than following with them. 
They often exhibited painful infirmity and in¬ 
consistency ; but he had called and chosen 
them, and they were his’friends, so he did not 
cast them off. 

And such 'was the effect of intercourse with 
himself—beholding his glory and drinking of his 
Spirit—such was the result of his perseverance 
and affectionate pains-taking, that in patience 
and magnanimity and largeness of soul they at 
last became wonderfully like to their Master. 
What w T as his own glory was transferred to 
them. And when more of Christ’s glory is 
given to the Church—when believers become 
more Christ-like, they will become not more 
tolerant of error, but more tolerant of one another. 
They will feel such compassion for a world 
* Luke ix. 49. 

11 


122 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


possessed by the devil, that they will rejoice 
when they hear that any is loosed from Satan’s 
bond, whoever spoke the word. They will feel 
such concern for their Master’s honor, as will 
make them forget their own prerogative. The 
name of Jesus will be so dear to them, that 
they will be glad to hear it coming from any 
lips, and to find it working signs, even though 
a stranger use it. The great desire will be, 
not that particular Churches should increase, 
or particular congregations should increase, so 
much as that Christ should increase. And if 
so be that he is preached, whether it be by un- 
amiable and contentious men, or by loving and 
consistent disciples, notwithstanding, every way 
they will rejoice.* Such believers there have 
already been; men in whom the love of Jesus 
swallowed up every sordid and selfish feeling. 
Were they but multiplied till our Churches 
contained no other members, the day for heal¬ 
ing our divisions would not be distant. Car¬ 
nality is the great source of religious conten¬ 
tions ; and the great subduer of carnality is the 
sanctifying Spirit. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, 
and the sanctifying Spirit glorifies Jesus by re¬ 
ceiving of his, and snowing it—transferring it— 
to his disciples.t It is he who, changing them 
into the same image, can make them the sons 
of peace. 


* Phil. i. 15—18. 


\ 


t John xvi. 14. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


123 


4. But we must go farther, and add that ex¬ 
cept in one brief earnest at the beginning, and 
a few local and partial vouchsafements since, 
this prayer of the Saviour has not been fully 
answered yet. When the early rain of the 
Spirit was given, there was a momentary fore¬ 
taste of what shall yet be seen, on a scale 
vastly more magnificent and permanent. “ And 
when they had prayed, the place was shaken 
where they were assembled together, and they 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost ; and they 
spake the word of God with boldness. And 
the multitude of them that believed were of 
one heart and of one soul: neither said any 
of them that ought of the things which he 
possessed was his own ; but they had all things 
common. And with great power gave the 
apostles witness of the resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus ; and great grace was upon them 
all Here great grace and great power were 
the accompaniments of unity. Grace, power, 
and unity all came together, and all came from 
the singular descent of the Holy Spirit. The 
prayer of the Saviour was for that instant an¬ 
swered ; his people for the time were one; and 
the impression on the world was great. But 
that oneness of the primitive Church was only 
a moment’s sun-blink. It ceased long before 
the apostles died. When Paul parted from 
* Acts iv. 31—33. 


124 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


Barnabas,* and when Peter was rebuked be¬ 
cause he was to be blamed,t there were symp¬ 
toms of the Great Comforter departing. And 
any one who reads the Epistles to the Corin¬ 
thians and Galatians, and to the Seven Churches 
of Asia, will see painful indications that the 
disciples had long since ceased to be of “ one 
heart and one soul.” Many think that if they 
could only get the Church back to the primitive 
model, Christ’s prayer would be answered. We 
cannot think so. Unless by the 'primitive , they 
mean the pentecostal model, something would 
be desiderated before the Church became what 
the Church should be;—before it coalesced in 
such identity of spirit and amalgamation of 
love, that disciples could be said all to be one, 
even as Christ and the Father are one. Read 
the following extracts from apostolic epistles, 
and say if you would not desire some greater 
unity for a Church that is to convert the world. 
“ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the 
same thing, and that there be no divisions (or 
schisms) among you ; but that ye be perfectly 
joined together in the same mind and in the 
same judgment. For it hath been declared 
unto me of you, my brethren, by them which 
are of the house of Chloe, that there are con¬ 
tentions among you. Now this I say, that 
* Acts xv. 39. t Gal. ii. 11—14. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


125 


every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I 
of Cephas; and I of Christ.”* “ I wrote unto 
the Church; but Diotrephes, who loveth to 
have the pre-eminence among them, receiveth 
us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember 
his deeds which he doeth, prating against us 
with malicious words; and not content there¬ 
with, neither doth he himself receive the bre¬ 
thren, and forbiddeth them that would, and 
casteth them out of the Church.”! 

In the days of the apostles there was little or 
no dissent—little or no secession—but still there 
was not unity; disciples were not sufficiently 
one to convert the world. With the litigious 
Corinthians and the Judaizing Galatians, with 
pragmatical teachers like Diotrephes, and osten¬ 
tatious preachers like those who thought to add 
affliction to the apostle’s bonds, Paul and John 
had as much reason to sigh after true Christian 
unity as any faithful minister or Christian now. 
When Paul wrote those tremulous entreaties, 
agonizingly imploring his own converts, “ If 
there be any consolation in Christ, if any com¬ 
fort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if 
any bowels and mercies,—fulfil ye my joy, that 
ye be like-minded, having the same love, being 
of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be 
done through strife or vain glory:” and when 
John penned those epistles, with love and heal- 
* 1 Cor. i. 10—12. t 3 John 9, 10. 


11 


126 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


ing flowing along each line, it is too evident in 
the reluctant allusion to divisions which darkens 
even his bright pages, that these works of the 
flesh were not unknown among the Churches 
which had been planted and tended by the 
gentlest of apostolic hands. When w r e look 
back on the primitive Church, we dare not say 
that, except during the brief hour of its Pente¬ 
costal prime, it came up to the Lord’s behest 
when he prayed for its unity,—for there were 
not many Churches even then, which could 
give the heathen cause to say, “ Behold how 
these Christians love one another.” A Church 
truly one—a unanimous cordial company, free 
from selfishness and indivisible—not packed in¬ 
to the mere shell of outside uniformity, nor con¬ 
stricted into uneasy and precarious juxtaposi¬ 
tion by the green withs of a temporary and 
self-suggested expediency—but gravitating to¬ 
wards each other by the polarization of truth 
and love; such a united, world-converting and 
God-glorifying Church, we believe to be the 
glory of the latter day, and the crowning 
achievement of the Holy Spirit. 

One good purpose will be answered, if these 
remarks shew what is not Christian unity. 

Mere denominational uniformity is not Chris¬ 
tian unity. It is a favourite project with many 
in the present day to single out some sect— 
usually their own—and then say to themselves, 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


127 


u If we could only get all the world to join us, 
there would be unity.” And so possessed are 
they with the notion that the unity of the 
Church consists in conformity to them, that 
many of them have determined to know no¬ 
thing among men, save their Church (meaning 
their own community,) and conformity thereto. 
Their union is separation from non-canonical 
Christians; and could they but make one font, 
one surplice, and one service-book for all, they 
are persuaded the Church would be one. In 
place of unity of spirit, they labour for unity 
of costume. They cannot understand a united 
family which does not wear a regimental uni¬ 
form. We, on the other hand, have seen an 
uniformity where there was nothing but the 
form. The Church of the middle ages was 
united, just as the sleepers in the funeral vault 
are united, in the tranquillity of death. It was 
like listening at the door of a sepulchre: Hush ! 
for all is peace within. Enter, and all is uni¬ 
form—uniformly dead—black frieze and rot¬ 
tenness—a sepulchre of souls. The Church 
of the early centuries was united, as scorpions 
are united when one glass receiver holds them 
and leaves them room to fret about, and strike 
their stings into one another. There was uni¬ 
formity, but it was not unity, for the world did 
not believe. The world saw it and was hard¬ 
ened ; the world saw it and blasphemed. To 


128 THE DEW OF HERMON. 

preserve the unity of the ChuVch they excom¬ 
municated or burned alive those who thought 
or believed for themselves ; till faith had well 
nigh perished from the earth. The Church 
became so catholic, that there was no place 
found for the Gospel. The union of coercion, 
or the union which as the first term of com¬ 
munion takes away your right of private judg¬ 
ment, is not the union contemplated by Him, 
the first law of whose kingdom is love, and the 
first gift of whose Spirit is light. 

Again. For the sake of unity, it is not need¬ 
ful to surrender an iota of the truth, or yield 
one conscientious conviction, so long as it re¬ 
mains conscientious. It is very common with 
those who misunderstand the matter, to say, 
“ Come, now, you and I do not think exactly 
alike; perhaps we are both right, and it is as 
likely we are both wrong. But it is a point of 
no moment; what would you say to throw it 
overboard altogether, and give ourselves no 
more concern about it?” To which, in many 
cases , it might be a very just answer—“You 
may intend this for liberality, but to me it 
sounds like latitudinarianism. I believe that I 
found this truth in the Bible; and if so, it is 
one of the truths of God. I dare not cast it 
overboard ; and I shall be very sorry if having 
it on board deprive me of your company. If 
it be so offensive to you that you must needs 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 129 

sail in a separate ship, I hope we shall not 
hoist hostile flags. But as neither of us holds 
it vital, might we not agree to differ regarding 
it; and as we grow in knowledge and in 
grace, may we not hope that the Lord will 
reveal even this unto us?” Wherever souls 
are joined to the Lord Jesus, and his image is 
visible upon them, there is actual unity of the 
most important kind. Were this actual unity 
more frequently made the foundation of a prac¬ 
tical unity, there would soon be more doctrinal 
unity among Christians. But it is an unhal¬ 
lowed mode of procuring practical unity to pur¬ 
chase it at the price of truth. As a compromise 
of error cannot lead to unity, so “ truth in love” 
will breed no schism. 

Christian unity is the union of believers— 
union in the truth—union in the Lord. Like 
every good and perfect gift, it cometh down 
from the Father of Lights. It is given where 
the Holy Ghost is given. Where the Spirit of 
the Lord is, there is love as well as liberty. 
This suggests as the first and main step towards 
the attaiment of the blessing. 

1. Prayer for the larger effusion of the Spirit 
on the Churches. Something like a visible 
unity has already been witnessed when be¬ 
lievers throughout the world agreed to make 
request for a common cause. This was to some 
extent the case in a union for prayer widely 


130 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


observed last autumn. It was kept by some 
Christians of almost every communion and 
every clime ; and for the time being they were 
one. One Spirit of Supplication taught them; 
one common object drew them ; one mind and 
heart were given them. For the moment they 
were one. And there have since been evident 
signs that God did not turn away that prayer 
from Him. He has enlarged the coasts of some 
and the hearts of others. A few agreed as 
touching the thing which they asked, and par¬ 
tial though the union was, the answer has at 
least sufficed to shew, “Ye have not because 
ye ask not.” 

During a revival of religion, it is so natural 
for disciples to love one another, that “ church 
order” is frequently invaded, and denomina¬ 
tional distinctions are forgotten in the affection¬ 
ate freedom of Christian intercourse. During 
the awakening at Cambuslang (1742,) Whit¬ 
field “was an angel of God” to the people; and 
when the revival at Moulin occurred (1798,) 
no preacher was more prized by the minister 
and his people than Mr. Simeon of Cambridge. 
Their feet were beautiful in the eyes of Pres¬ 
byterian people, because they brought good 
tidings, and the Churchman was merged in 
the minister of Christ. And though it were 
for no other reason, a revival of religion should 
be sought because it would make it natural 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


131 


and safe for ministers and people of different 
persuasions to hold fellowship with one another. 
To render our intercourse generous and con¬ 
fiding, unembarrassed and affectionate, needs 
the same power which gave “ the multitude of 
them that believed ” in early days “ one heart 
and one soul.” That power was the Holy 
Ghost with whom they “ all were filled ;” and 
he was given in answer to prayer, “ when they 
had lifted up their voice with one accord.”* 
Would the multitude of believers now lift up 
their voice with like unanimity and earnest¬ 
ness, the promise of the Father which we heard 
from Jesus would be the answer to the prayer. 
The Holy Ghost would be given: harmony at 
home and power abroad would be given. The 
world could not stand before the great boldness 
and great grace of those whom God had joined 
together; and as the Church’s unity would re¬ 
move the great obstacle to the world’s conver¬ 
sion, the world’s conversion would remove the 
great source of divisions in the Church. Of¬ 
fences in the Church usually enter from the 
world. Did the Church possess the world, these 
offences would cease. The world one with the 
Church, and both one with God, the work of 
the Comforter would be complete,—“ the prince 
of this world would be judged,” condemned, 
dethroned. 


* Acts iv. 24, 31. 


132 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


2. If unity be the gift of the Spirit, let those 
believers who long for unity beware of grieving 
the Holy Spirit of God. He is grieved by car¬ 
nal contention : he is grieved by those works 
of the flesh, “ hatred, variance, emulations, 
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings 
he is grieved when we offend one of Christ’s 
little ones: he is grieved when we seek the 
things of our own party more than the things 
of Jesus Christ: and he is grieved when we 
pray for unity, and do not cultivate a kind and 
fraternal spirit. 

3. In order to attain this spirit, let us think 
how the Saviour feels towards all the members 
of his body. The Church of Christ looks very 
different contemplated from the same point of 
view from which the Son of God surveyed it, 
when beneath the cross with yearning heart he 
prayed for it, or viewed by the sectarian from the 
lonely pinnacle of his frosty partisanship. If we 
have the mind of Christ, why do we not feel 
toward his blood-bought Church as he himself 
feels towards it ? Why is it not all precious 
to us, when his precious blood is on it all? 
Each redeemed and regenerate man is dear to 
the Saviour: can we not find room in our 
hearts for all ? If they be not all exactly to 
our liking, let us remember that Christ bears 
with them. If they belong to a denomination 

* Gal. V. 17, 20, 21. 


THE DEW OF UERMON. 


13a 


which we cannot approve, let us remember that 
the stiflfest sectary will chaUge his denomina¬ 
tion the day he joins the Church of the first¬ 
born above ; and that even we ourselves may 
see some things differently then. And if we 
cannot love them as they are, let us love them 
as they are yet to be. The most shining saint 
on earth is not so holy nor so beautiful as the 
least attractive Christian will become the mo¬ 
ment his corruption puts on incorruption. 

4. Let us study the internal history of the 
Church, i. e. the history of vital religion, and 
we shall find that God has greatly owned 
other Churches besides that of which ourselves 
are members. The Spirit of the Lord is not 
straitened as the Lord’s people too often are; 
consequently, the history of real religion during 
these last ages is the history of many Churches. 
Christians, if they were eminently devout and 
heavenly-minded, look wonderfully like one 
another when the story of their hidden life is 
told. When you read the biographies of Brai- 
nerd and Martyn and Carey, you do not think 
of the one as a Presbyterian, and of the other 
as an Episcopalian, and of the third as a Bap¬ 
tist but you think of them all as good soldiers 
of Jesus Christ, and men whom their Lord de¬ 
lighted to honour. When you read of the glori¬ 
ous revivals last century in Britain and America, 
you scarce ever ask to what party did Daniel 
' 12 


134 


THE DEW OF IIERMON. 


Rowland and George Whitfield, John Living¬ 
stone and President Edwards belong. Would 
you throw aside the “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” be¬ 
cause you had found out that a Baptist wrote it 7 
Or, in the midst of some noble hymn, would your 
voice at once grow mute because on turning 
the leaf you found that this good matter 
had been originally indited by a Noncon¬ 
formist or a Methodist 7 

5. Let us remember how important are the 
points on which believers agree with one 
another, and in which they differ from the 
world. Think what is it that makes a Chris¬ 
tian. It is not his belonging to any Church 
on earth, but his “ belonging unto Christ.” It 
is not our badge upon his shoulder, but Christ’s 
image on his soul. It is not his believing the 
divine warrant of any ecclesiastical polity, hut 
it is his believing in the Saviour himself. It is 
not his dwelling in our tabernacle, but it is the 
Spirit of God dwelling in him that makes him 
a Christian indeed. Compared with these 
great realities, how insignificant the points in 
which believers disagree ! and how very differ 1 
ent from the world the weakest and most incon¬ 
sistent saint! 

6. Let us cultivate a friendly intercourse 
with sister Churches. It is our shyness which 
produces so much estrangement. We would 
think more highly of one another, if we knew 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 135 

one another better. If you were ever transported 
to a new district of country, you remember 
how cold and unfriendly it looked, simply be¬ 
cause it was strange. Now that you have 
been some years in the district, you can hardly 
recall or believe the shy and suspicious feelings 
with which you viewed it at first. Here is a 
cottage where scarce a winter night goes by 
but you are a visitor; and yet the first time 
you went that way you felt a prejudice against 
it—you did not like its looks—you thought the 
inhabitants were curious-looking people—and 
congratulated yourself that you were indepen¬ 
dent of them, for you were sure you could 
never take to them. But somehow you got 
acquainted ; you found that they were more 
amiable and interesting than you had expected. 
The good-man of the house, whom you did not 
like at all the first time you saw him, is now 
your particular friend; and those children, 
whom you thought so oddly dressed that you 
could not bear them, you are never so happy 
now as when you have them all clinging about 
your chair and climbing on your shoulders. A 
well shut up, a fountain sealed ; you have 
found a spring of unsuspected gladness and 
refreshment, in that uncouth habitation and its 
grotesque-looking inmates. Perhaps, were you 
building a house for yourself, you might not 
choose to copy all its fantastic ornaments and 


136 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


peculiar arrangements ; nor might you be dis¬ 
posed to array your household in the peculiar 
uniform which they have chosen to wear: but 
still you are thankful that you got acquainted 
with these people* and that here is a door 
whose latch you may lift without knocking 
any day, and step in and find a welcome and 
pleasant fellowship, kind hearts, and congenial 
converse. 

The recluse who never darkens his neigh¬ 
bour’s door, nor lets his neighbour darken his, 
will look coldly on all the region round about. 
When he looks out on the adjacent dwellings, 
he will think more of the masonry outside than 
of the furnishing within. His landscape will 
be a cold panorama of brick and tile, of stones 
and mortar; without living souls, without bright 
intellects and warm hearts to people them. And 
the stranger will feel much like the recluse : it 
is the masonry that meets his eye and decides 
his judgment: the inhabitants are all one, for 
they all are strange. But a neighbourly man, 
who has lived a long time in the region, and 
been making his friendly entries from door to 
door, with him the cold and alien feeling has 
worn off long since ; and when he looks at 
houses, he is not looking at blue slates and red 
tiles, but houses richly tinted with those warm 
life-hues, that fire-light colouring of peace, and 
love, and joy, which he has seen within ; and 


THE DEW OP HERMON. 137 

if he wished to bespeak the stranger’s interest 
in all, he could point out the peculiar trait of 
excellence in each. “ Yon bleak-looking house 
contains the most united family I ever saw: it 
would do your heart good to see their mutual 
affection. Yon other house is a pattern of good 
order and skilful arrangement. And yonder is 
a family to which the whole parish is beholden 
for their ready-handed liberality, their visits of 
mercy, and offices of tender sympathy. The 
people of this house are remarkable for walking 
in all the ordinances blameless ; so strict, that 
some would call them stern. And in yon other 
habitation there is more of joy and praise than 
I ever found elsewhere. It is thawing, heart¬ 
kindling to be with them: it seems to me as 
if the very house were singing—smiling—glad. 
I have learned a lesson from every one : I see 
that wholesome discipline and good govern¬ 
ment are compatible with good feeling and fra¬ 
ternal concord : I see that much devotion need 
not hinder much activity: and I do not see 
why a happy Christian should not be as strict 
and consistent and unworldly as a gloomy 
one.” 

Now which is the happier man,—the recluse, 
who is his own all-in-all, who finds a bitter 
food for his misanthropy in sneering at the 
architectural quaijptness or the peculiar garb 
of his fellows, and who would rather starve in 
12 * 


138 THE DEW OF HERMON. 

solitude than be fed and warmed at his neigh¬ 
bour’s fire; or, the more large-hearted and con¬ 
fiding citizen who passes from house to house 
an internuncio of good tidings and kind feel¬ 
ings, carrying from family to family the fra¬ 
grant report of their mutual excellence, and 
endeavouring to engender good opinion and 
lay a foundation for friendly offences ? And 
which is the likelier to go on unto perfection ? 
The self-sufficient hermit, who has grown so 
wise that all the world can teach him nothing; 
or, the candid, docile inquirer, who feels that 
he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know, 
and who feels that it were a becoming end for 
an ignorant sinner to die learning a lesson ? 
From each circuit of kindness, from each 
friendly visit, he might come back with a har¬ 
vest of practical hints and useful suggestions ; 
and, without needing to pull down his house 
and reconstruct it each time, or without leav¬ 
ing it and removing to another, he might bring 
with him what would greatly add to its internal 
comfort and social enjoyment. Would all the 
evangelical denominations cultivate a cordial 
intercourse ; were we taking as our password 
the sentence which our Saviour gave us long 
ago, “ One is your Master, even Christ, and all 
ye are brethrenwere we in this spirit to meet 
and hold converse, and consult about our Mas¬ 
ter’s interests, almost every end of Christian 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


139 


union would be answered. From every such 
re-union we would return refreshed. Mutual 
jealousy would melt away. We would not 
need to obtrude our peculiarities on one another; 
for whatever grace of God we saw in each 
other, we would be glad and long to share it, 
—whatever peculiar excellence the one pos¬ 
sessed the other would borrow, and the original 
owner would find himself no loser. Because I 
am a Presbyterian, must I have no dealings 
with Episcopalians or Congregationalists ? Or, 
when I see the sequestered and unworldly sim¬ 
plicity of the Moravians; the all-enlisting live¬ 
liness of the Wesleyans, finding use for every 
talent and a talent in every member; the deep 
fervour and spirituality of Welsh Methodists ; 
the serene piety and child-like faith of the Swiss 
Protestants ; and the practical every-day the¬ 
ology and business-like enterprise of the Amer¬ 
ican Churches ; must I forego all these as de¬ 
nominational peculiarities which a Presbyterian 
may not without felony appropriate ? Or, be¬ 
cause I worship in Regent Square, am I to be 
hindered as I go along Great Queen Street or 
Bedford Row, as I pass Surrey or John Street 
Chapel, and think of our friends and brethren 
who worship there, from saying, “Peace be 
within thee ?” 

7. Let us unite in some common object. 
The union which has no definite object in 


140 THE DEW OF HERMON. 

view, which is merely a union for union’s sake, 
will hang loosely together and soon dissolve 
again. The best way to keep the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace, is to keep it for 
some common object. Some think that they 
have found a rallying point for the divided 
Churches on the platform of missionary socie¬ 
ties; and it is delightful to think how much 
rivalry of love and interchange of Christian 
affection have been elicited in those heart-stir¬ 
ring convocations. But much of that courtesy 
and cordiality is the propitious effusion of the 
day, or does not outlive the hour of meeting; 
and when the speech-makers get back to their 
homes, when they are withdrawn from the 
melting atmosphere of the public meeting, they 
often get frozen up in their original sectarianism 
again. The brotherly love of many is like the 
blood of St. Januarius, which melts but once 
a-year. But though the conductors of mis¬ 
sionary societies are not always united, the 
missionaries usually are. Though the men 
who send them out sometimes ply their de¬ 
nominational controversies with acerbity all 
the year, and only sign a truce for a few days 
in the month of May, you will find that the 
missionaries themselves seldom find leisure for 
controversy with one another. Why ? Because 
they have such a terrible controversy with 
atheism and unbelief, they have such a fight 



THE DEW OP HERMON. 141 

with principalities and powers of darkness, that 
they have no leisure to fight with one another. 
In India, in Africa, in Labrador, the denomi¬ 
nations dwell in unity. The City Missionaries 
of London, representing many sects, have no 
disposition to wage war on one another. They 
find the hosts of darkness too fierce and power¬ 
ful to render division safe or desirable. And 
it is the knowledge of this that makes us think 
that were the pious and accomplished men 
who unite at our public meetings to go down 
from the platform to the mission-field, were the 
orators themselves becoming missionaries, the 
union of that hour would become a union for 
life. The missionary meeting brings the cross 
in view,—and in the sight of its affecting won¬ 
ders disciples forget their grudges and their 
feuds: no man is a sectarian so long as his 
eye rests on a bleeding Saviour. The mis¬ 
sionary meeting brings the miserable Satan- 
bound world in view,—and in sight of its aw¬ 
ful and guilty case no man who loves God’s 
glory or his brother’s soul can remain a sec¬ 
tary. But the missionary jubilee ends, and its 
moving sights fade away: the cross becomes 
shadowy, or a denominational halo encom¬ 
passes it: the perishing world falls back into 
distance, and it needs the telescope of the sect 
to catch another sight of it. It would be dif¬ 
ferent did those who this day advocate a com- 


142 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


mon cause really make a common cause of it, 
and go forth missionaries themselves; not to 
India, but to England. The controversies 
which one Evangelic Church has with another 
—and it is a misnomer calling that a Church 
which does not preach the Gospel—are very 
trivial compared with that controversy which 
the Church of Christ has with the world. “ One 
heresy, called drunkenness,” is ruining far 
more souls than any Church is saving. The 
sect of the Sabbath-breakers outnumbers any 
denomination in England. And there is an 
infinitely wider interval between the party who 
deny the sole-sufficiency of the atonement, or who 
believing it refuse to preach it publicly, than 
between all the denominations in Europe whose 
watch-word is the old Reformation talisman, “ Je- 
hovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness.” 

And whilst there are many parishes in Eng¬ 
land and Scotland, where a free and full salva¬ 
tion is not preached at all, or preached so ob¬ 
scurely that people cannot understand it, or so 
timidly that they are afraid to believe it; whilst 
there are myriads in this very city whom you 
must compel to come in, or else they will 
never come into the house of God at all; 
whilst many are preaching another Gospel 
which is not another, and subverting the 
grace of God, are we to lavish all our 
strength on ephemeral controversy and mutual 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


143 


recrimination ? Are we to waste the rapid days 
and allow the harvest to rot upon the fields, 
whilst we are settling which is the best form of 
the sickle, and debating in what sort of vehicle 
we shall carry home the sheaves? Are there 
not all important truths, for which our concur¬ 
ring testimony, and helping prayers, and mu¬ 
tual countenance, would be all too little to win 
a nation’s reluctant ear; and in the effort to 
rouse a sleeping world, and convert an ungodly 
kingdom, will any voice be loud enough except 
the united cry of an awakening Church ? 
Amongst the higher orders and middling classes 
of British society are many who make no re¬ 
ligious profession, and many more who make 
a general profession, but on whom divine reali¬ 
ties have such shadowy hold, that in the testing 
trials of Christian principle you may with pain¬ 
ful certainty foretel the result. Amongst the 
industrious and more dependent classes is a 
fearful multitude, especially in rural places, 
whom mental torpor and uninquiring ignorance 
have prepared for any faith or fancy which 
authority may enjoin ; and another multitude, 
abounding in cities and manufacturing regions, 
too acute to credit the dreams of superstition, 
but in ignorance of revelation and dislike of its 
restraints, all too ready to hail the scorning in¬ 
fidelity. which in a land of free inquiry is su- 


144 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


perstition’s unfailing satellite. For such a state 
of things there is one remedy. It is that only 
form of truth, so important and so true, as to 
be worthy of the Spirit’s demonstration—the 
truth as it is in Jesus. But to secure wide and 
efficient circulation for this truth, would need 
the undiverted strength and diligence of all 
who know and love it. An Evangelical Union 
for Evangelistic purposes was never more 
needed than it is this day; and as the materials 
for such union are not wanting, and the provi¬ 
dential call to it is louder every day, why do 
we postpone ? In days of confusion and blood¬ 
shed, the first thing that united Europe was a 
crusade against the infidel. The first thing 
that will unite a torn and distracted Church, 
will be a cross-exalting war,—a crusade upon 
the world,—a simultaneous forthgoing in the 
wake of that banner, which did we lovingly 
eye and implicitly follow, we should conquer at 
once the world and ourselves. A confederacy 

FOR THE RESUSCITATION OF GOSPEL TRUTH 
AND FOR THE REVIVAL OF TRUE RELIGION 
WOULD ITSELF BE UNION. 

8. Should we find our overtures of kindness 
and conciliation rejected by any whom we have 
reason to regard as real disciples, let us not be 
discouraged. If Christian unity be so impor¬ 
tant to the cause of Christ, it is surely worth 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


145 


some self-denial and pains taking to secure it. 
If the burthen of the self-denial fall on us, and 
we receive grace to bear it, it is our privilege to 
be “ the martyrs for charity.” It is not enough 
to sigh after unity; it is not enough to pray 
for it; if we really desire it, we must labor and 
deny ourselves, and have long patience to ob¬ 
tain it. And if our motive really be love to the 
Redeemer, and desire to fulfil his joy, the con¬ 
sciousness that we do it unto him should be the 
consolation for many failures ; and the recollec¬ 
tion that his prayer has ensured success, should 
make us feel that every failure only brings the 
successful issue nearer. 

It is this persuasion which has encouraged 
this attempt. It will be useful if it arrest the 
attention of more influential members of the 
Church, or animate the prayers of those whose 
influence all lies in the upper sanctuary. If it 
should fail of these higher ends, it may perhaps 
fall into the hands of some who will accept it 
as a statement on behalf of one congregation,* 

* It is confirming to the author’s mind that the general 
sentiments of this tract are those of his much esteemed bre¬ 
thren, the elders and deacons of that Church in which he 
ministers. He has daily reason to thank the Lord for having 
cast his lot in a kirk-session and congregation where such 
subjects are congenial, and gladly avails himself of the sanc¬ 
tion to the foregoing views and statements implied in their 
request to publish them. The reader who feels interested in 
the general theme, is referred to Dr. Harris’s Essay, “ Union 
“ The Unity of the Church, another Tract for the Times,” 

13 


146 


THE DEW OF HERM0N. 


who, though they love their own communion 
much, love the communion of saints still more. 
Dwelling in unity ourselves, we should rejoice 
to dwell in unity with all our believing brethren. 
And as we have only found the free expression 
of our mutual mind promote this unity, so we 
believe that were there a better understanding 
among the different denominations, there might 
be a very full expression of various opinion, and 
an ample discussion of the advantages of our 
several systems, without danger of offence; 
and as the result of all we might reach, if not 
a state of perfection, at least a state of much 
nearer approximation. 

We end as we began. Heaven is the abode 
of unity, and when the spirit of unity comes 
into a soul or into a Church, it cometh from 
above. The Comforter brings it down. Discord 
is of the earth, or from beneath. The divisions 
of Christians shew that there is still much car¬ 
nality amongst them. The more carnal a 
Christian is, the more sectarian will he be ; and 
the more spiritual he is, the more loving and 
forbearing, and self-renouncing are you sure to 
find him. And it is with Christian communities 
as with individual Christians. When the tide 
is out, you may have noticed, as you rambled 

by the Hon. and Rev. B. Noel, M.A.; and a sermon on 
“ Christian and Ecclesiastical Unity,” by the Rev. J. C. Burns, 
London Wall. 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


147 


among the rocks, little pools with little fishes in 
them. To the shrimp in such a pool his foot- 
depth of salt water is all the ocean for the time 
being. He has no dealings with his neighbour 
shrimp in the adjacent pool, though it may be 
only a few inches of sand that divides them. 
But when the rising ocean begins to lip over 
the margin of his lurking-place, one pool joins 
another, their various tenants meet, and by 
and bye, in place of their little patch of stand¬ 
ing water, they have the ocean’s boundless 
fields to roam in. When the tide is out—when 
religion is low—the faithful are to be found in¬ 
sulated, here a few and there a few, in the little 
standing pools that stud the beach, having no 
dealings with their neighbours of the adjoining 
pools, calling them Samaritans, and fancying 
that their own little communion includes all 
that are precious in God’s sight. They forget 
for a time that there is a vast and expansive 
ocean rising—every ripple, every reflux, brings 
it nearer—a mightier communion, even the 
communion of saints, which is to engulph all 
minor considerations, and to enable the fishes 
of all pools, the Christians, the Christ-lovers of 
all denominations, to come together. When, 
like a flood, the Spirit flows into the Churches, 
Church will join to Church, and saint will 
join to saint, and all will rejoice to find that if 
their little pools have perished, it is not by the 


148 


THE DEW OF HERMON. 


scorching summer’s drought, nor the casting in 
of earthly rubbish, but by the influx of that 
boundless sea whose glad waters touch eter¬ 
nity, and in whose ample depths the saints in 
heaven as Well as the saints on earth have 
room enough to range. Yes, our Churches are 
the standing pools along the beach, with just 
enough of their peculiar element to keep the 
few inmates living during this ebb-tide period 
of the Church’s history. But they form a very 
little fellowship—the largest is but little—yet 
is there steadily flowing in a tide of universal 
life and love, which, as it lips in over the mar¬ 
gin of the little pool, will stir its inhabitants 
with an unwonted vivacity, and then let them 
loose in the large range of the Spirit’s own 
communion. Happy Church! farthest down 
upon the strand! nearest the rising ocean’s 
edge! Happy Church! whose sectarianism 
shall first be swept away in this inundation of 
love and joy! whose communion shall first 
break forth into that purest and holiest, and 
yet most comprehensive of all communions,— 
the communion of the Holy Ghost! Would to 
God that Church were our’s ! 


TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 


AN ODE, 


Written for the Bi-centenary celebration of the illustrious Westmin¬ 
ster Assembly of Divines , by whom the standards of the Presbyte¬ 
rian Church were formed. July 1843. 

BY MRS. J. L. GRAY. 

Two hundred years, two hundred years, our bark o’er billowy 
seas, 

Has onward kept her steady course, through hurricane and 
breeze; 

Her Captain was the mighty One, she braved the stormy foe, 

And still he guides, who guided her, two hundred years ago! 

Her chart was God’s unerring word, by which her course to 
steer— 

Her Helmsman was the risen Lord, a helper ever near— 

Though many a beauteous boat has sunk, the treacherous 
waves below, 

Yet ours is sound as she was built, two hundred years ago ! 

The wind that filled her swelling sheet from many a point 
has blown, 

Still urging her unchanging course, through shoals and 
breakers, on— 

Her fluttering pennant still the same, whatever breeze might 
blow, 

It pointed, as it does to heaven, two hundred years ago! 

When first our gallant ship was launched, although her 
hands were few, 

Yet dauntless was each bosom found, and every heart was 
true! 

And still, though in her mighty hull, unnumbered bosoms 
glow, 

Her crew is faithful as it was two hundred years ago! 

13 * 


150 TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 


True some have left this noble craft to sail the seas alone; 
And made them, in their hour of pride, a vessel of their own; 
Ah! me, when clouds portentous rise, when threatening 
tempests blow, 

They’ll wish for that old vessel built two hundred years ago 1 


For onward rides our gallant bark, with all her canvass set, 
In many a nation still unknown, to plant her standard 


yet;— 

Her flag shall float, where’er the breeze of freedom’s breath 
shall blow, 

And millions bless the boat that sailed two hundred years 
ago! 


On Scotia’s coast, in days of yore, she lay almost a wreck, 
Her mainmast gone, her rigging torn, the boarders on the 
deck;— 

There Cameron, Cargill, Cochran fell; there Renwick’s blood 
did flow, 

Defending our good vessel built two hundred years ago! 


Ah! many a martyr’s blood was shed, we may not name 
them all; 

They tore the peasant from his hut: the noble from his 
hall; 

Then brave Argyle, thy father’s blood, for faith did freely 
flow; 

And pure the stream as was the fount, two hundred years 
ago! 

Yet onward still our vessel pressed, and weathered out the 
gale; 

She cleared the wreck, and spliced the mast, and mended 
every sail, 

And swifter, stauncher, mightier far, upon her cruise did 
g°;— 

Strong hands and gallant hearts had she, two hundred years 
ago! 

And see her now—on beam ends cast, beneath a north-west 
storm, 

Heave overboard the very bread, to save the ship from 
harm;— 


TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 151 


She rights!—she rides!—hark, how they cheer, All’s well, 
above, below! 

She’s tight, as when she left the stocks, two hundred years 
ago !* 

True to that guiding star which led to Israel’s cradled hope, 
Her steady needle pointeth yet to Calvary’s bloody top! 

Yes, there she floats, that good old ship, from mast to keel 
below, 

Sea-worthy still, as erst she was two hundred years ago! 

Not unto us, not unto us, be praise or glory given, 

But unto Him, who watch and ward, hath kept for her in 
heaven; 

Who quelled the whirlwind in its wrath, bade tempests cease 
to blow, 

That God, who launched our vessel forth, two hundred years 
ago! 

Then onward, speed thee, brave old bark, speed onward in 
thy pride. 

O’er sunny seas and billows dark, Jehovah still thy guide; 
And sacred be each plank and spar, unchanged by friend or 
foe, 

Just as she left Old Westminster, two hundred years ago! 

Easton , Pennsylvania. 

* The intelligence has just arrived, showing that by the recupera¬ 
tive energy of the truth, as embodied in our system, the Church of 
Scotland has righted, and is free, though at the expense of every 
thing but her Divine Head. 






THE 


DESTINATION OF THE JE¥S. 

BY THE REV. JAMES HAMILTON, 

MINISTER OP THE NATIONAL SCOTCH CHURCH, REGENT SQUARE. 


Luke xxi. 24. 

“ Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles , until the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled .” 

Romans xi. 25, 26: 

“ Blindness in part is happened to Israel , until the fulness of 
the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved 

In submitting a few remarks on the Destina¬ 
tion of the Jews, I have selected these two 
passages, not because they are the fullest pre¬ 
dictions on this momentous matter, but because 
they are among the latest. When you say 
that Israel will yet be restored and converted, 
and quote in support of your position Old Tes¬ 
tament predictions, their force is often evaded 
on no other pretext but because they are found 
in the Old Testament, as if the Old Testament 
were not as authoritative as the New—or as if 
the Old were all fulfilled and finished the in¬ 
stant the New began. But leaving the Old 




DESTINATION OP THE JEWS. 153 

Testament entirely out of view, the destination 
of the Jews might be sufficiently gathered from 
what Christ and his inspired apostles have told 
us. Had we no Scriptures but the Gospels and 
Epistles, it would be extremely probable that 
the house of Judah should fill their old seats 
again, and absolutely certain that they should 
become the conspicuous and favoured people 
of God once more. 

However, I confess that I have no desire thus 
to narrow the field of presumption and proof. 
I would read these New Testament prophecies 
in the light of the Old, and fill up these more 
recent hints from the ampler information of 
earlier predictions. I would, on the one hand, 
learn more fully what God’s purpose is, and on 
the other, would ascertain that this purpose is 
not yet fulfilled—in other words, that it is God’s 
purpose still. The New Testament allusions 
to Israel’s last return are cursory and few, but 
it is enough that there are allusions. If you 
get a letter from a friend in India telling that 
he proposes to take a journey home, and fixing 
the very time of his intended departure, des¬ 
cribing the route he intends to pursue, the 
length of time which he is likely to tarry at such a 
place, and the business which he hopes to trans¬ 
act at such another place, and the time when 
he hopes to arrive in Britain; should his next 
despatch relate to some affair which has occur- 


154 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

red in the meanwhile, you would not expect 
that this second letter should repeat all the de¬ 
tails of its predecessor. It would be enough if 
he did not intimate any change of plan—it 
would be more than enough if he made the 
most casual reference to the subject; if he said, 
for instance, “ When I take my journey home¬ 
wards,” or, “ as soon as I set outhowever 
slight the allusion, you would know to expect 
him still. And when the Psalms, and Isaiah, 
and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and 
Micah, and Zechariah, and Malachi; when 
the Old Testament is full of Judah’s restora¬ 
tion and conversion—of all the accompanying 
signs and subsequent effects, it is enough for us 
if Luke, and Paul, and John—if the New 
Testament penmen writing on another errand 
and a new emergency, do not supersede or dis¬ 
allow the predictions of their predecessors. It 
is more than enough, when I find by frequent 
allusions and explicit statements, that they 
assume and sanction the whole. 

Abstaining from all speculations regarding 
the period when, and the agencies by which 
the result is to be brought about, it will be the 
object of this lecture to show, 

I. That the Jews are to be restored to their 
own land ; and— 

II. That they are to be converted. 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 155 

In other words, the destination of the Jews 
includes their restoration and conversion. 

I. It is God’s purpose to restore the Jews. 
u Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gen¬ 
tiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fullfilled 
in other words, when the Gentile lease is out, 
Jerusalem shall be trodden down no more. 

When a great city is overthrown, and the 
first out-burst of sorrow dies away, it is either 
quietly rebuilt and re-occupied, or forsaken and 
forgotten. In either case it is only one genera¬ 
tion which suffers. If a new city rise on the 
ruins of the old, the conquerors and the con¬ 
quered usually blend more or less together, and 
in some future age they live promiscuously and 
rejoice in common on a soil which their fathers 
moistened with one another’s blood. What 
modern Roman lays it the least to heart that 
the grass waves in theatres where his forefa¬ 
thers sate the long summer day, and laughed, 
and cheered, and shouted ; or, who feels it 'per¬ 
sonally that the bramble grows out of the riven 
altar on which Romulus or Numa laid the 
struggling victim ? The chain of identity is 
broken, and the new race is clean severed from 
the old. If, on the other hand, no new city be 
suffered to arise, if the shock which overturned 
its walls have also dispersed its people, like the 
shattered fragments of the avalanche, they 
soon melt and are lost atoms in the stream of 


156 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

some mightier population. Where is the bo¬ 
som in which Troy awakens the faintest throb 
of patriotic feeling? What nation pays its 
pilgrimage to the swampy sites of Nineveh and 
Babylon ? And what emotion beyond a vague 
and impersonal sadness, a general impression 
of the melancholy, a sense of dreariness with¬ 
out any touch of tenderness, is ever called fortli 
among the broken shafts of Palmyra, and 
empty rock-nests of Petra? Where are the 
people who have the hereditary right to sit 
down among such ruins, and recognising em¬ 
blems of departed glory, the right to weep be¬ 
cause their “ house is left unto them desolate ?” 
Where are the old inhabitants ? They were not 
exterminated, and yet they have vanished. 
Merged in the nations, and mutually commin¬ 
gled, there is no precipitate which can decom¬ 
pose them and bring them out in their original 
distinctness again. The house is desolate; but 
no one feels that the house is his, so no one 
mourns its desolation. But there is a city 
whose case is quite peculiar. Captured, ravaged, 
burnt, razed to the foundation, dispeopled, car¬ 
ried captive, its deported citizens sold in slavery, 
and forbidden by severest penalties to visit their 
native seats again ; though eighteen centuries 
have passed, and strangers still tread its hal¬ 
lowed soil, that city is still the magnet of many 
hearts, and awakens from time to time pangs 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 157 

of as keen emotion as when its fall was recent. 
Ever and anon, and from all the winds of 
heaven Zion’s exiled children come to visit her, 
and with eyes weeping sore bewail her widow¬ 
hood. No city was ever honoured thus. None 
else receives pilgrimages of affection from the 
fiftieth generation of its outcast people. None 
else after centuries of dispersion could at the 
first call gather beneath its wings the whole 
of its wide-wandering family. None else has 
possessed a spell sufficient to keep in remotest 
regions, and in the face of the mightiest induce¬ 
ments, its people still distinct: and none but 
itself can now be re-peopled with precisely the 
same race which left it nearly two thousand 
years ago. The reason of this anomaly must 
be sought, not in Jerusalem, but in the purposes 
of God. 

Here are two familiar facts. The Jews are 
still distinct, and to the Jews Jerusalem still is 
dear. What is the final cause—the Divine 
reason for these singular facts ? Why, when 
all other scattered nations mix and mingle— 
why is it that, like naptha in a fountain, or 
amber floating on the sea, this people,* shaken 
hither and thither, are found, after all their 
tossings and jumblings, separate and immis¬ 
cible ? And why, again, when every other for¬ 
saken city after an age or two is forgotten by 
its people—why has Jerusalem such strong 
14 


158 DESTINATION OP THE JEWS. 

affinity for its outcast population, that the city 
refuses any other permanent inhabitants, and 
the old inhabitants refuse any other settled 
home ? Why these anomalous and mutually 
adapting* facts, unless God has some purpose 
with the place and with the people, and unless 
the place and the people have yet something 
to do with one another ? 

This presumption becomes an"absolute cer¬ 
tainty when we consult the sure Word of pro¬ 
phecy ; and, in order not to confuse your ideas 
and oppress your memories with a multitude 
of quotations, I would by the way of specimen 
select the following three :— 

11 In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, 
which shall stand for an ensign to the people; 
to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall 
be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that 
day, that the Lord shall set his hand again 
the second time to recover the remnant of his 
people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and 
from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, 
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from 
Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And 
he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and 
shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather 
together the dispersed of Judah from the four 
corners of the earth.”* 

“ For I will take you from among the hea- 
* Isaiah xi. 10—12. 


DESTINATION OP THE JEWS. 159 

then, and gather you out of all countries, and 
will bring you into your own land. Then will 
I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall 
be clean ; from all your filthiness, and from all 
your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart 
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put 
within you; and I will take away the stony 
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an 
heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within 
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and 
ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to 
to your fathers ; and ye shall be my people , 
and I will be your God”* 

“ Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed 
as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, 
and the mountain of the house as the high 
places of the forest. But in the last days it 
shall come to pass, that the mountain of the 
house of the Lord shall be established in the 
top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted 
above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 
And many nations shall come, and say, Come, 
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 
and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he 
will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in 
his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, 
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”t 

I would only further remark, that agreeably 

♦ Ezekiel x^cxvi. 24—28. 4 Micah iii. 12; iv. 1,2. 


160 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

to these prophecies, no nation has been allowed 
to settle in Jerusalem. It has all along been 
“trodden down” of the Gentiles; but no one 
set of the Gentiles has been allowed to tread it 
long time together. It has been “ successively 
occupied by the Romans, the Persians, the 
Saracens, the Turks of the Seleucian race, the 
Egyptian caliphs, the Latin Christians, the 
Egyptian caliphs a second time, the Mamalucs, 
and the Turks of the Ottoman race.”* And 
by this ceaseless change of occupants, it has 
been very plainly hinted that all were intruders 
and usurpers, and that the rightful owner had 
not yet appeared ; so much so, that I greatly 
err if it be not the conviction of the present 
possessors, both Frank and Moslem, that they 
are the mere locum tenentes , sitting there by 
sufferance till the way be ready for the return 
of the ancestral lords. Christians and Infidels, 
Papists and Mahometans, Franks and Sara¬ 
cens, Turks and Egyptians, have fought forthe 
Holy City, and possessed it all by turns; but 
never any of them been able to keep it long. 
And whilst in their struggles for its custody, 
the Gentiles have trodden Jerusalem down, the 
persecuted people whose it is, await in calm 
assurance the day when the Lord himself shall 
put them in perpetual possession. 

Looking to the present languid and withered 
* Faber on the House of Judah and Israel, vol. ii. p. 304. 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 161 

aspect of the country, it may be a question with 
some whether a literal restoration to Palestine 
would be a blessing to the Jews. On that 
question we deem the people themselves the 
best judges, and if they desire it, it must be a 
blessing—a blessing because they desire it. 
The question with the exile is not whether his 
native land or his place of banishment be the 
fairest and most fruitful; but all the question 
is, how he shall get home. But independently 
of this, Palestine is “ a goodly land.” Its in¬ 
trinsic resources are far from despicable, and 
its position, relatively to other lands, perhaps 
the most advantageous in the world. Spread 
out beneath a sky whose severest aspect is 
mild, and whose summer glow is only intense 
enough to elaborate those aromatic harvests 
unknown in more moist and chilly climes, 
Palestine used to be a land of sprightly music 
and long livers. In those regions where the 
air is sluggish, life is dull, and men do their 
work in silence. But in healthful climes, mus¬ 
cular energy is redundant, and the animal spi¬ 
rits overflow, and the prodigal excess of life and 
power escapes in joyous shouts and nimble 
movements,—in leaping and dancing, in melody 
and song. And just as you infer, not more 
from its long livers—those gay old “ grasshop¬ 
pers” —than from its merry singers, that ancient 
Attica must have been a genial lifesome land, 
14* 


162 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

so you may gather, not more from the fre¬ 
quency of fourscore and fivescore among its 
patriarchs, than from the abundance of its 
popular minstrelsy and daily music, that Pales¬ 
tine was a cheerful and salubrious land. From 
the matron at the well, to the watchman on 
the walls, from the strain that gushed with 
earliest spring, to the shout which closed the 
vintage, there were tokens unequivocal of life 
in its sunshine, and inspiration in its air. And 
perhaps nothing can show the change more 
solemnly than that a land once so vocal should 
be so silent now. And as it was a salubrious, 
so it was a fertile land. In its better days, it 
was “ the garden of the Lord, a land of brooks 
of water, of fountains, and depths that spring 
out of valleys and hills ; a land of wheat and 
barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pome¬ 
granates, a land of oil-olive and honey.” The 
long desolations have dried up many of its 
fountains, blasted its vines, and sadly thinned 
its fig-trees ; but the bee still murmurs on the 
fragrant cliffs of Carmel, and the sleek olive 
yields its fatness in Gethsemane. The ruth¬ 
less natives, and more ruthless strangers, have 
not been able to exterminate the cedars of 
Lebanon ; sycamores grow by the wayside as 
when Zaccheus clambered up to catch a 
glimpse of the illustrious stranger; and the 
Arabian pitches his tent beneath the Terebinth, 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 163 

like his father Abraham when angels visited 
him at Mamie. The almond-tree flourishes 
along the Jordan, and like a pyramid of silver 
cleaves the azure of a cloudless spring, even as 
when its glad signal announced to the youth 
of Judah the winter past, and its snowy blos¬ 
soms on leafless branches reminded the mon¬ 
arch-preacher that his own almond-tree would 
soon be flourishing. Jericho was the city of 
palm-trees in the days of Moses. The palm- 
leaves of Jericho carpeted the path of the Prince 
of Peace on the only triumphal procession this 
world ever gave him. Jericho is the city of 
palm-trees still. The trees whose borrowed 
foliage spread a canopy of green over Jerusa¬ 
lem at each Feast of Tabernacles, have not 
entirely vanished. And even those humbler 
glories of the field, which no goodly land can 
want, may still be recognised. Sharon has 
not lost its rose, and among the hills of Galilee 
you still may gather the gorgeous amaryllis, 
descendant of those very lilies to which the 
Divine Teacher pointed one autumn evening 
eighteen hundred years ago, and bade his dis¬ 
ciples “consider” them. A traveller speaks 
with rapture of the delicious odour which sprang 
at every footstep from Jerusalem to Jaffa, when 
the long-looked for rains had revived the rose¬ 
mary and other scented flowers. Hasselquist 
was charmed with the jasmine of Palestine, a 


164 DESTINATION OE THE JEWS. 

trivial circumstance, were it not that a prophecy 
of many a sweet Jewish home and rural dwelling 
may be enfolded in that flower. But what is 
economically of far more moment, amidst all 
the recklessness of its trampling invaders, and 
all the resourceless poverty of its abject culti¬ 
vators, the soil gives symptoms of its exuberant 
fertility. The lazy boor on the sea-coast 
scratches the mould and flings in a handful 
of melon-seed, and is rewarded with the most 
delicious produce in the world. The mountain 
ranges to the north are as green as when the 
bulls of Bashan rioted on their dripping slopes. 
And the very thistle-forests, which dense and tall 
usurp its plains, show that these plains are 
capable of yielding again their heaps of corn. 
In short, the Lord has only to turn that cap¬ 
tivity like streams in the south, to fill the chan¬ 
nel of that dry and thirsty land with the stream 
of its returning population, in order to clothe it 
on every side with the fertility and glories of 
unexpected spring. Let but the seed of Jacob 
people it once more, and its pastures will be 
clothed with flocks, and its valleys will be 
covered over with corn. And whilst the little 
hills exult on every side, the people that went 
forth weeping shall doubtless come again re¬ 
joicing. 

There is only one circumstance more which 
I would mention in this connexion. It is that 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS 165 

the geographical position of Palestine will 
make it now far more important to the people 
who possess it than it ever was before. So re¬ 
markably situated is it, that it forms the bridge 
between two continents, and a gateway to a 
third. Were the population and the wealth of 
Europe, Asia, and Africa condensed into single 
points, Palestine would be the centre of their 
common gravity. And with the amazing fa¬ 
cilities of modern intercourse, and the prodigious 
extent of modern traffic, it is not easy to estimate 
the commercial grandeur to which a kingdom 
may attain, planted as it were on the very apex 
of the old world,—with its three continents 
spread out beneath its feet, and with the Red 
Sea on one side to bring it all the golden trea¬ 
sures and spicy harvests of the East, and the 
Mediterranean floating in on the other side all 
the skill, and enterprise, and knowledge of the 
West. For the sake of higher ends it seems 
the purpose of God to make the Holy Land a 
mart of nations; and by bringing the forces 
of the Gentiles to Jerusalem, to send the bles¬ 
sing of Abraham among the Gentiles.* 

II. I now pass on to prove a point without 
which the restoration of the Jews would be a 
blessing neither to themselves nor to the world. 
I mean their conversion. There are some 
things from which the Jews do not need to be 

* Isaiah lx. 


166 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

converted ; e. g. they are not idolaters, and do 
not need to be turned from image-worship. 
They are better than some called Christians in 
this respect. But they are self-righteous. They 
have mean ideas of God’s holy law, for they 
think that with hearts and hands tainted by 
the original transgression they can render a 
pure and acceptable obedience to that law. 
They have wrong ideas of sin, for they fancy 
that the fasts, and prayers, and tears of the 
sinner can atone for insults offered to the 
almighty Majesty and sin-repelling Holiness 
of God. And they have wrong ideas of God 
himself; for his amazing gift of a free forgive¬ 
ness is too magnificent for them to receive it, 
and the condescension of the Son of God in 
coming down and dying is too divine for them 
to believe it. If the Jews had right views of 
the law of God, of sin, and the Saviour, they 
would be converted. We believe that the Spi¬ 
rit of God will give them such views ere long. 
But whether their conversion is to precede or 
accompany or follow their restoration, or rather 
whether some of them may not be converted 
before the restoration, and the remainder after¬ 
ward ; and what are to be the agencies em¬ 
ployed, whether there is to be a second personal 
appearing of the Son of God beforehand, or 
whether the work of their conversion is to be 
consummated solely by the plenteous outpour- 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 167 

ing of the Spirit, without whose working the 
bodily presence of the Son of God would make 
little impression on corrupt humanity; and 
whether the time is now fully come; these 
questions I do not at present discuss, on some 
of them having formed no conclusive judgment, 
and because on all of them you will more 
readily come to a clear light and sound conclu¬ 
sion if you be first fully persuaded of the fact 
that the Jews are to be converted. And here, 
as in the former instance, I prefer quoting, 
without comment, the sure word of prophecy. 

“ Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, It shall yet 
come to pass that there shall come people, and 
the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabi¬ 
tants of one city shall go to another, saying, 
Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and 
to seek the Lord of Hosts ; I will go also. 
Yea, many people and strong nations shall 
come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, 
and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the 
Lord of Hosts, In those days it shall come to 
pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all 
languages of the nations, even shall take hold 
of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We 
will go with you ; for we have heard that God 
is with you.”* 

“ And it shall come to pass in that day, that 
I will seek to destroy all the nations that come 
* Zech. viii. 20—23. 


168 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the 
house of David, and upon the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications ; 
and they shall look upon me whom they have 
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one 
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bit¬ 
terness for him, as one that is in bitterness for 
his first-born. In that day shall there be a 
great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning 
of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 
And the land shall mourn, every family apart; 
the family of the house of David apart, and 
their wives apart; the family of the house of 
Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the 
family of the house of Levi apart, and their 
wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and 
their wives apart; all the families that remain, 
every family apart, and their wives apart. In 
that day there shall be a fountain opened to 
the house of David, and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”* 

“ For I would not, brethren, that ye should 
be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be 
wise in your own conceits ; that blindness in 
part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of 
the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel 
shall be saved.These also have not be¬ 

lieved, that through your mercy they also may 
obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them 
* Zech. xii. 9—14; xiii. 1. 



DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 169 

all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon 
all.”* 

But I feet that I would not be doing justice 
to my subject if I ended here. I doubt not 
that the Jews are to be the possessors of Pales¬ 
tine and the people of God again. This is 
their destination ; but this is not all. As was 
truly said in the opening lecture, “ The Jews 
possess no prerogatives for themselves. What¬ 
ever immunities and distinctions they enjoy, 
they hold for the world.” So is it with their 
destination. God has great things in store for 
Israel, for he has great things in store for all 
mankind. And to understand the destination 
of the Jews you must go back to the day of 
their original segregation from the nations, and 
recall God’s promise to the Chaldean shepherd, 
“ In thee and in thy seed shall all the families 
of the earth be blessed.” A promise already 
most bounteously fulfilled in the “one” seed, 
“ that is Christ;” but a promise whose riches, 
as prophecy assures us, are far from being ex¬ 
hausted yet. From Isaiah, and Zechariah, 
and Paul, it is very plain that Israel’s restora¬ 
tion is to be the world’s elevation ; that Israel’s 
ingathering is to coincide with the world’s great 
harvest-home. Their fall was a blessing to a 
few of our Gentile families ; their rising again 
in their fulness will be a blessing to the whole. 

* Rom. xi. 25, 26, 31, 32. 

15 


170 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

How it may produce its full effect of blessing, 
I cannot tell; but, with Bible help, may offer 
the following hints. 

1. The restoration and conversion of the 
Jews will be striking facts. Whether effected 
in the more ordinary ways, or, as is almost cer¬ 
tain, with miracles intermingled, the result will 
be abundantly remarkable. It is not probable. 
Many of the Jews sneer at the devout expecta¬ 
tion of their brethren, that they will yet be 
planted as of old in Palestine. Many of them 
smile at the idea of a restoration, simply be¬ 
cause there are such hindrances in the way. 
Very well. When the restoration takes place 
it will be all the more wonderful. “ When the 
Lord turns the captivity of Zion, you will be 
like them that dream. Your own mouth will 
be filled with laughter, and it will be said 
among the Gentiles, The Lord hath done great 
things for them.” The event is not probable. 
You do not all expect it yourselves ; and many 
Gentiles do not. So it will be very surprising 
when it does take place. Again, much as 
many of the Jews desire a restoration, and 
confidently as some look forward to it, they all 
With one accord depreciate conversion, and are 
confident that such a calamity never can befal 
them. Now, of all prophetic truths, this is the 
plainest and most positive; and when it does 
take place—when over the face of most stag- 


DESTINATION OP THE JEWS. 171 

gering difficulties and stupendous prejudices, the 
great consummation is brought about—when, 
probably all of a sudden, the world sees the 
spectacle of the inhabitants of Jerusalem with 
glistening eyes looking to the Pierced One, and 
sees all Israel actually saved, a result so strange 
must needs be striking. The moment the veil 
is rent from Israel’s eyes, the veil will be rent 
from a thousand prophecies ; and, read in the 
light of restored and regenerate Judah, the 
Word of God will sparkle with unwonted cor- 
ruscations, and like deep-coloured gems that 
look dusty in cloud-light, many of its dark say¬ 
ings will brighten up into its divinest truths, 
when the beams break forth from Salem. And 
it is not so much the new evidence as the new 
impulse which this event will give. It is not 
so much that it will merely illustrate or fulfil 
the prophecies, as that it will arrest the world 
and animate the faithful, and by giving pal¬ 
pable reality to the things of faith make unbe¬ 
lief as impracticable as it is already inexcusa¬ 
ble. It has been admirably shown in a recent 
essay, that foreign missions have exerted a 
most quickening power on domestic Christianity; 
and that every triumph of the Gospel abroad 
has pioneered a corresponding victory at home. 
When Christendom was stagnant, when preach¬ 
ing had come down to a few meagre common¬ 
places, when ministers preached with slight 


172 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

expectation that they were to impress or 
change their hearers, and when hearers heard 
with no intention of being impressed or changed, 
word came home that the gospel was proving 
itself the power of God unto salvation among 
savages, Indians, Esquimaux, and South Sea 
Islanders. Why should it not prove itself the 
same to the Greek which it had proved to the 
barbarian ? The cause got a new impulse, 
the Gospel got a new trial, and the work of 
evangelization went on with new success in 
Britain. If this was the reflex influence of a 
few pagans converted, what would be the effect 
of like conversions among the Jews ? Would 
it not be as life from the dead to the oilce more 
drooping Churches of Christendom? The 
Gospel has already proved itself the power of 
God and the wisdom of God unto the salvation 
of Gentiles, and that on a somewhat extensive 
scale. But to complete the case, let it prove 
itself the power of God and the wisdom of God 
unto the salvation of the Jews. They are 
confessedly the hardest and most impracticable 
materials on which it has yet been brought to 
bear. Are they beyond its influence ? In the 
infancy of chemistry half the substances in 
nature were reckoned insoluble, not because 
there was no power in nature to dissolve them, 
but because men were ignorant of that power, 
or knew not how to apply it. And after the 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 173 

poor alchymist had laboured in the fire, heated 
his furnace seven times, and spent all his acids 
and alkalies, there still remained in the alembic 
a relentless mass which laughed at all his la¬ 
bours ; a tiresome earthly residuum, a caput 
mortuum , which would neither evaporate, nor 
melt, nor burn. But as knowledge grew, sol¬ 
vents multiplied, till the intractable substances 
became very few. Still, however, men would 
say that a thing was as hard as adamant, that 
you might as soon melt marble or fuse platinum 
as make an impression on that thing. But 
these comparisons are no longer significant. 
There is a power in nature which can melt 
marble, fuse platinum, and burn the adamant. 
In the infancy of evangelic effort, even Chris¬ 
tians looked despondingly on some sections of 
the human family : and it was a grave ques¬ 
tion with some whether it was better to extir¬ 
pate cannibals or evangelize them; whether 
the Gospel should be preached to the Indians ; 
and a large mass, consisting of Negroes, and 
Hottentots, and “ Chineses,” were set aside as 
utterly out of the question, a caput mortuum , 
of which nothing could be made. These de¬ 
spondencies, which were unlawful from the 
moment it was said, “ Preach the Gospel to 
every Creature,” have now been effectually re¬ 
futed by the partial success of the Gospel on 
every creature; partial, but still enough to show 
15 * 


174 DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 

that every creature is a fit subject for the Gos¬ 
pel to act upon. But I can quite see in some 
brethren a suspicion that the Hebrew subject 
will prove refractory—that there is a peculiar 
impracticability about the Jew. Be it even so: 
that the Jew’s heart is the hardest of all hearts; 
that peculiar hardness has happened unto Is¬ 
rael. There is a power, an agent which can 
dissolve this stony heart; and just allow that 
they are the most obdurate people in the world, 
and it follows that when the Gospel has proved 
itself the power of God and the wisdom of God, 
to the salvation of the Jews, it will be seen how 
omnipotent is the Gospel of peace in the hand 
of the Spirit of Love. When the Jews are 
converted, it will be a most singular event; the 
final evidence of the Gospel’s Divine original, 
and a mighty impulse to its spread. 

2. But, secondly, the Jews are likely them¬ 
selves to be most energetic and efficient evange¬ 
lists. Isaiah says (ii. 2, 3), that, “ in the last 
days the law shall go forth out of Zion, and 
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” And 
Zechariah says, “ Many people and strong na¬ 
tions shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in 

Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.Ten 

men out of all languages of the nations shall 
take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, 
saying, We will go with you; for we have 
heard that God is with you.” (viii. 22, 23.) 



DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 175 

Jerusalem, by that time possibly the great 
centre of wealth and influence, will be the 
source of light and evangelization ; the ema¬ 
nating fountain and the converging focus, 
whence truth shall issue and whither inquiry 
shall return ; from which the Word of the 
Lord shall go forth, and to which all tribes of 
awakened people shall go up—the missionary 
metropolis of the world. 

3. And a third and more important way in 
which I believe that Christianity is to profit by 
the conversion of the Jews, in which all fami¬ 
lies of the earth are to be blessed in Abraham, 
is that in that converted nation may expect 
to see a re-production of Christianity in its no¬ 
blest and purest style; the graces of the Gospel 
exemplified as they have not been since the 
day when the very chiefest Christians were 
Jews. It ought ever to be reme?nbered, that 
whether for the purposes of ulterior conversion 
of the world, or for the elevation of the existing 
Church, the instrumentality most needed is a 
normal piety of the highest type; a living 
Christianity so full-grown, and so full-hearted, 
that no man shall despise it, and no man shall 
mistake it. And in reading the prophecies I see 
many proofs that regenerate Palestine is to pre¬ 
sent the world with a living epistle largely 
written of this first-rate Christianity. The par¬ 
adisaic scenes of peace and harmony delinea- 


176 DESTINATION OP THE JEWS. 

ted, streets without violence, and sanctuaries 
without profanation; the worshipping con¬ 
course and the rapt adoration, and the manifes- 
ed presence of Jehovah; the blending of sab¬ 
bath sanctity with week-day activity, bespeak 
a piety of the most exalted order. And I stag¬ 
ger not at the promise because of what the 
Jews are now—I believe that they are much 
maligned, and I also believe that they are not 
too moral. But I also believe that, though 
everything which prejudice has suspected and 
malignity invented were true, the miracle of 
grace, which makes them a pattern to all peo¬ 
ple, will only be the more adorable. I do not 
stop to say that if they be abject, persecution 
has made them so; nor do I interpose the 
names of Reuchlin and Benezra and Neander 
in arrest of that sweeping sentence which 
would adjudge them to irretrievable degrada¬ 
tion. But I fall back on the unquestionable 
fact that the finest specimens of redeemed and 
regenerate humanity which mother earth has 
ever borne upon her surface, or received into 
her bosom, are the men gathered to their fa¬ 
thers in the sepulchres of Israel, the saints 
that sleep in Palestine. I do not forget that the 
Church’s finest models and most stimulating 
examples are men who answered to the name 
of Jew. And just as from the indevotion of a 
prayer-restraining and irreverent age, I look 


DESTINATION OF THE JEWS. 177 

back to the son of Jesse praising seven times 
a-day, and soliciting the lyre familiar with his 
ecstasies to a strain more seraphic yet, till the 
labouring lyre could do no more, and his own 
awe-struck hand trembled into silence; so from 
the stinted devotion and phlegmatic praises of 
our Gentile Churches, I look forward in hope 
to the day when other Davids shall lead the 
choir, and sweet singers of Israel sound the 
key-note of the Church’s gratitude; and if 
without the temple pomp, at least with Hebrew 
fervour, we shall answer one another, “ Praise 
ye the Lord for his mercy endureth forever.’ , 
And just as from the selfishness and caution, and 
wary worldly wisdom of modern preaching, I 
look back with amazement at that meteor of 
mercy, that burning and shining light, who, 
self-forgetful and self-spending, flamed round 
the benighted earth, knowing and making 
nothing known but Christ, then exhausted, 
shot back into that sun which had fired him at 
the first; so looking round on our glow-worm 
regiment to the leeward of the hedge, and then 
looking out on dark Britain and a darker world, 
I am ready to exclaim, “The Lord send us 
another Jew like Paul.” And then, when I look 
round on the Church of Christ comminuted 
into a thousand fragments, and every day shat¬ 
tering more and more the stone which ought 
to fill the earth—when I think how fallen out 


178 DESTINATION OP THE JEWS. 

by the way are the pilgrims, the brethren jour¬ 
neying to the same land of peace and love, I 
look back with wistfulness to the Daniels and 
Johns of better days, who exerted such healing 
and harmonizing influence on all their coevals ; 
and when I think of it as one most likely 
source of Christian union, I pray the Lord to 
hasten in his time the day when Ephraim 
shall no longer envy Judah, but from Ephraim 
and Judah, converted and restored, shall come 
forth a company, the models op the 
Church, the missionaries of the world. 


























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3 

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4 

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3d edition. 1 vol. 18mo. 

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M for improvement in the Christian life.”— Albany Daily Advertiser. 


6 

THE HISTORY OF MICHAEL KEMP, 

THE HAPPY FARMER’S LAD. A Tale of Rustic Life, 
illustrative of the Spiritual Blessings and Temporal Advantages 
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A TRI BUTE OF PARENTAL AFFECTION 

to the Memory of my beloved and only Daughter, Hannah 
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the 6th London edition. 

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6 


TRUE HA PPINESS; or, the Excellence and Power 
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HOR>E SOLITARI/E; or Essays upon some Re¬ 
markable Names and Titles of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit 
occurring in the Old and New Testament. By Ambrose 
Serle, Esq. 1 vol. 8vo., muslin. 

“ A volume of 710 panes, -eplete with doctrinal instruction and pious exhor¬ 
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I. —"THE PERSECUTED FAMILY. 1 v. 18mo. 

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li The poetic imagination of the author shines beautifully throughout thi® 
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7 


THE GLORIOUS MYSTERY OF THE 

PERSON OF CHRIST, GOD AND MAN. To which are 
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By John Owen, D.D. 8vo., muslin. 

THE GRACE AND DUTY OF BEING 

SPIRITUALLY MINDED, Declared and Practically Im¬ 
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MESSIAH THE PRINCE; or the Mediatorial 
Dominion of Jesus Christ. By the Rev. William Symington, 
D.D., Glasgow. 12mo. 

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JESUS CHRIST. By Rev. William Symington, D.D. 
2d edbion. 12mo. 

A TREATISE ON THE OFFICES OF CHRIST. 

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THE INQUIRER DIRECTED to an Experimental and 
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Octavius Winslow. 1 vol. 12mo. 

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the spirit of the gospel. The author commences, as he should do, with a con¬ 
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CALVIN ON SECRET PROVIDENCE. Translated by 
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Presbyterian. 


8 

MEMOIR OF THE REV. CHARLES NISBET. D.D. 

late President of Dickinson College, Carlisle. By Samuel 
Miller, D.D., Professor in the Theological Seminary, Prince¬ 
ton, New-Jersey. 1 vol. 12mo., with Portrait. 

“ We have been much gratified at the appearance of this work. It forms a 
most valuable addition to the Presbyterian Biography of our country. Dr. 
Ntsbet distinguished alike by his own personal,acquirements in literature, 
and his devotion to the cause of sound learning, was deserving of a lasting re¬ 
membrance ; and yet few had the opportunity of knowing much of his true 
character and services, until the appearance of this interesting memoir. The 
fidelity and excellence with which the work is executed, may be concluded 
from the name of the biographer.”— Presbyterian. 

LIFE AND DEATH OF REV. JOSEPH ALLEINE, 

A.B., author of an “Alarm to the Unconverted,” &c. Writ¬ 
ten by Rev. Richard Baxter, his widow, Mrs. Theodosia A] 
leine, and other persons. To which are added his Christian 
Lectures, full of Spiritual Instruction, tending to the promoting 
v of the Power of Godliness both in Persons and Families. 
With a recommendatory Preface by Alexander Duff, D.D., 
one of the Church of Scotland’s Missionaries to India. 1 vol. 
12mo. 

MEMOIR OF MRS. MARY LUNDIE DUNCAN; 

being Recollcctiorls of a Daughter, by her Mother. From 
the 2d Edinburgh edition. 12ino. 

“ Deeply interested have we been in this memoir of one of the most lovely 
of her sex—a woman whom God had adorned with all that, comeliness of per¬ 
son, richness of intellect, sweetness of disposition, and above all, with thoso 
Christian graces, which, when blended in harmonious proportions, form the 
most lovely object of contemplation out of heaven. Something must be allow¬ 
ed for the partiality of a mother’s love and a husband’s devotion, but beyond 
the testimony of these interested witnesses, we have here the evidence in her 
own walk and conversation, in her life and writings, and in the letters of 
others whose happiness it was to know her ere she left this for a more conge¬ 
nial world, that Mary Lundie Duncan was all that parental, filial or conjugal 
affection could desire in a daughter, mother or wife.”— New-York Observer. 

THE JUBILEE MEMORIAL, being the Sermons, Meet¬ 
ings, Presentations, and full account of the Jubilee commemo¬ 
rating the Rev. Win. Jay’s Fifty Years’ Ministry at Argyle 
Chapel, Bath. 

“ The name of Rev. Wm. Jay is very precious to thousands in this country 
as well as in England. Some of his children and grand-children are here. 
And he has, doubtless, not a few spiritual children among us. It is well, 
therefore, to republish, for their gratification, a ‘ memorial’ that has excited a 
deep sensation on the other side of the Atlantic,—it is too full of instruction 
to be lost, on any one who shall even glance at its pages. It would give us 
pleasure to indicate some of these instructions, and dwell on the joyous spec¬ 
tacle of a pastor reposing sweetly on the affections of his dock, after having 
led them for fifty years m green pastures and beside still waters—but it is un¬ 
necessary. We trust that many will read and understand, and derive abun¬ 
dant profit from the example thus furnished, of ministerial fidelity and it* 
earthly rewards.”— Boston Recorder . 


9 


WORKS 

BY REV, J, A, CLARK, D. D. 

RECTOR OF ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


I. 

A WALK ABOUT ZION. Revised and Enlarged. Fifth edi¬ 
tion ; l2mo. 2 steel engravings. 

“The spirit of the book is above all price. It is that charity which en- 
vieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not pulled up. No intelligent man will be 
disposed to deny that the arrogant principle of I’useyism has extensively 
infected the Episcopal Church in Great Britain and this country. When, 
therefore, we find a writer of that communion who is no* in the least af¬ 
fected by it, but who utters in Christian meekness and simplicity, senti¬ 
ments becoming the liberal philosopher and the humble minded believer in 
Jesus, our heart yearns the more towards him on account of the strong ad¬ 
verse influence, which, we know, he is obliged constantly to resist.”— Bap¬ 
tist Advocate. 

II. 

THE PASTOR'S TESTIMONY. Fifth edition; l2mo. Revised 

and corrected ; 2 steel engravings. 

“We admire the spirit and sentiments of the author on all practical 
points of religion ”— Presbyterian. 

“ Mr. Clarke is an eminently evangelical writer of the Protestant Episco¬ 
pal Church, and his productions have been extensively read by other de¬ 
nominations.”— New York Observer. 

III. 

THE YOUNG DISCIPLE; or a Memoir of AnggonettaR. Peters. 
Fourth edition ; t2mo. 

“ Dr. Clarke has for some time been known to the religious public, as one 
of the most judicious and excellent writers of the day. His works are all 
characterized by good thoughts expressed in a graceful and appropriate 
manner, by great seriousness and unction, and an earnest desiie to promote 
the spiritual interests of his fellow men.”-- Albany Daily Advertiser. 

IV. 

GATHERED FRAGMENTS. Fourth edition; 12mo. 2 steel 

enoravings. 

Containing— The M‘Ellen Family.—The Paralytic.—The Withered Branch 
Revived.—The Baptism.—Little Ann.—The [Meeting of the Travellers.— 
Mary Maywood.—A Family in Eternity.—One whose Record is on High, 
&c. &c. 

V. 

GLEANINGS BY THE WAY; or Travels in the Country. 
1 vol.; l2mo. 



10 


ANECDOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SHORTER CATE¬ 
CHISM. By John Whitecross, Edinburgh. Now edition; 
l8mo. 

“ We admire the plan of this work, which is by striking anecdotes, to il¬ 
lustrate and enforce the answers to the questions of that invaluable com- 
pend, the Shorter Catechism.”— Boston Recorder. 

“The author of this work has been alike original in its conception and 
successful in its execution. The anecdotes are generally selected with 
great good taste and good judgment, and are admirably fitted to impress 
the truths which they are designed to illustrate. This will relieve the cate¬ 
chism of a difficulty which many have felt in respect to it—that it is too 
abstract to be comprehended by the mind of a child: here every truth is 
seen in its practical relations, and becomes associated in the mind with 
some interesting fact which is fitted at once to make it plain to the under¬ 
standing, to lodge it in the memory, and to impress it upon the heart.”— 
Albany Daily Advertiser. 

THE SINNER’S FRIEND. From the 87th London edition, com¬ 
pleting upwards of half a million. 

“This little volume contains a series of short, earnest, and impressive 
appeals, addressed to the conscience of the sinner, to persuade him to be 
reconciled to God. It appears to us well adapted for general circulation, 
especially in seasons of inquiry. There is perhaps no work of the kina 
more popular, or more extensively read. It is stated that the work has 
been published in sixteen different languages , and that more than five hun¬ 
dred thousand copies have been circulated, mostly in the different countries 
of Europe.”— Christian Observer. 

“It is designed by its direct appeals to arrest the attention of the most 
careless reader, and to pour into his ear some word of truth before he can 
become fatigued with reading.”— Presbyterian. 

“ It is fitted to be an admirable auxiliary to ministers in the discharge of 
their duty.”— Albany Daily Advertiser. 

NEW WORK BY OLD HUMPHREY. THOUGHTS FOR THE 

THOUGHTFUL. By the author of “Old Humphrey’s 
Observations,” and “Old Humphrey’s Addresses.” 1 vol. 
l8mo. Uniform with the former works. 

“Old Humphrey’ is known as the personification of an old man, who 
has not oply had his eyes open in his jourm y through life, but has act¬ 
ually seen many things that escape the observation of others, from which 
he has gathered lessons of wisdom for the instruction of those who follow 
them. His style and manner are well adapted to interest the reader. He 
never speaks without thinking, and having something to say.”— Christian 
Observer. 

“ We most, cordially reccommend Old Humphrey as a charming domes¬ 
tic companion; assuring our friends that there is not a family in the Re¬ 
public but may save in one day, by following his advice, more than the cost 
of his volumes.”— National Intelligencer. 

, , t 

LUCILLA: or the Reading of the Bible. By Adolphe Monod. 
1 vol. l8mo. 

“This is the production of one of the most distinguished of the living 
Protestant ministers of France. The style has all the sprightliness ana 
vivacity of the French ; and we doubt not that the work will have an exten¬ 
sive circulation in this country ”— N. E. Puritan. 

“ Its design is to prove that the Holy Scriptures are inspired of God, and 
that it is the privilege and duty of all people to read them with a reference 


11 

to their personal salvation. The work is ably written, and impressed 
throughout with the kind, earnest, and benevolent spirit of the author.”— 
Christian Observer. 

“ We venture to say that it contains one of the most acute, philosophical, 
and conclusive arguments in favor of the inspiration of the Scriptures, and 
of the importance of their universal circulation, to be found in any lan¬ 
guage. Part of the book is in the form of dialogue, and part of it in the 
form of epistolary correspondence; and while the argument is conducted 
on both sides with great ability, the skeptic is finally confounded, not be¬ 
cause he appears as the weaker man, but because he has the weaker cause. 
We would say to any who have doubts in respect to the truth of Christian¬ 
ity, that they will do themselves great injustice, if they cherish those doubts 
or allow them to settle into unbelief, without having given this book a 
careful perusal. If we mistake not, they will find that the skeptic has here 
been allowed to make the very best of his case, while yet, after all, he has 
been compelled to abandon it.”— Albany Daily Advertiser. 

THE BRITISH PULPIT. Consisting of Discourses by the most 
eminent living Divines in England, Scotland, and Ireland: 
accompanied with Pulpit Sketches. To which are added, 
Scriptural Illustrations; and selections on the Office, Duties, 
and Responsibilities of the Christian Ministry. By the Rev. 
W. Suddards, Rector of Grace Church, Philadelphia. Fifth 
edition. 2voIs. 8vo. 10 portraits on steel. 

BICKERSTETH’S TREATISE ON THE LORD 7 S SUPPER. 

With an Introduction, Notes, and an Essay. By G. T. Be¬ 
dell, D. D. 5th edition ; l8mo. 

MOFFATT’S SOUTHERN AFRICA. Missionary Labours and 
Scenes in Southern Africa. By Robert Moffat, twenty-three 
years an Agent of the London Missionary Society in that con¬ 
tinent. 1 vol. l2mo. 

“ We have read the whole of this large volume with undiminished inter¬ 
est, and have found it replete with missionary information, given in an un¬ 
pretending, but strong and clear style. The wretched state of the heathen 
tribes, among whom the writer so long laboured as a missionary; their 
i deep degradation and ignorance; the trials of faith and patience, of the 
missionary brethren; and after years of apparently useless labour, and 
■ when the churches at home seemed ready to abandon the whole field, the 
displays of the power of the Spirit of God, by his blessing upon the labours 
i of his servants, are all recorded by an eye-witness, who bore the burden and 
I heat of the day, and who lived to rejoice in seeing the triumphs of the Gos¬ 
pel, among the most ignorant and degraded of the human family. The nar¬ 
rative is enriched also with descriptions of African scenery ; with the em¬ 
ployment, habits, and pursuits of the native tribes; their dangers from 
I lions and other beasts of prey, and the wars and massacres of the roving 
bands of marauders, in their desolating excursions from place to place.”— 
i Foreign Missionary 

INTERESTING NARRATIVES from the Sacred Volume. Illus¬ 
trated and improved, by the Rev. Joseph Belcher. 

Contents. —The Solemn Inquiry.—First Murder.—Deluge.—Servant Ex¬ 
pelled.—Affectionate Father Sacrificing his Son.—Affecting Funeral.— 
Patriarchal Weddmg.—Dutiful Son.—Affectionate Brother.—Faithful 
Steward.—Pious Prisoner.—Righteous Governor.—Mistaken Saint.— 




LECTURES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By John 

Dick, D. D. author of “ Lectures on Theology,” &c. one vol. 
8vo. 

MEMOIR OF HENRY MARTYN. Fourth American, from the 
Tenth London edition. l2mo. 

LIFE OF MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM, a new edition, enriched 
by her narrative of her husband’s death, and other select cor¬ 
respondence. l2mo. 

BISHOP BUTLER’S ANALOGY OF RELIGION,8vo,beautiful 

large type. 

BISHOP' BUTLER'S SERMONS, 8vo. 

BAXTER’S SAINTS’ REST, l2mo, large type. 

JAYS LECTURES—THE CHRISTIAN CONTEMPLATED, one 

vol. lRmo, new edition. 

A TREATISE ON PRAYER, By the Rev. Edward Bickersteth, 
l8mo. 

THE COTTAGE FIRESIDE, By the Rev. Henry Duncan, l8mo. 
THE BELIEVER, a series of Discourses, by the Rev. Hugh 
White, author of “ Meditations on Prayer,” &c. l8mo. gilt 
bstc k 

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE SECOND ADVENT, 

by the^Rev. Hugh White. 

THE FAMILY OF BETHANY, by L. Bonnet, with an intro¬ 
ductory Essay by the Rev. Hugh White .l8mo. 

THE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF SCOTTISH LIFE, by 

Prof. Wilson. l8mo. 

THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER, by Mrs. Cameron. 18mo. gilt 

back. 

JESSY ALLEN,THE LAME GIRL. By Grace Kennedy, au¬ 
thor of “ Anna Ross,” “ .Father Clement,” &c. l8mo. 

THE COMMUNICANT’S COMPANION, by the Rev. Matthew 
Henry, l8mo. 

THE CONTEST AND THE ARMOUR, by Dr. Abercrombie. 

32mo, gilt. 

GIFT FOR MOURNERS, containing Flavel’s Token for Mourn¬ 
ers, and Cecil’s Visit to the House of Mourning. 32mo, gilt. 
GEOLOGICAL COSMOGONY, or an Examination of the Geo¬ 
logical Theory of the Origin and Antiquity of the earth, by a 
Layman, l8mo. 

THE LIFE OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON, written by him¬ 
self, with a continuation to his death, by the Rev. Richard 
Cecil. l8mo. 

ELIJAH THE TISHBITE, by F. W. Krummacher. l8mo.- 

PERSUASIVES TO EARLY PIETY, by the Rev. J. G. Pike 

l8mo. 














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